Usman Ghani Feels Indian Batsmen Would Find it Difficult to Tackle Rashid and Rahman

Afghanistan’s opener Usman Ghani believes it’s not going to be easy for Indian batsmen – to play freely against the teenage duo, in the form of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Both of these Afghanistan’s mystery spinners had done well during their Indian Premier League (IPL) stint.

Rashid went on to bag 21 wickets in the 17 matches while Mujeeb took 14 wickets before being sidelined owing to a hand injury.

Thus, Ghani believes that it is not going to be a cakewalk for the Indian batsmen against the quality spin attack of Afghanistan.

Furthermore, the IPL has given the opportunity to Afghanistan players to play in the Indian conditions. In fact, Afghanistan is currently taking on Bangladesh in a three-match Twenty20 International series in India.

Afghanistan has quality spinners in their team:

However, Ghani was not able to make the cut into the Afghanistan Test squad.

“In IPL, the world has seen what Rashid [21 wickets in 17 matches] and Mujeeb [14 wickets in 11 matches] are capable of. Yes, I understand that Test cricket will be a different ball game altogether but the experience of bowling against all the Indian batsmen in the IPL will be crucial for both of them. So, easy Nahi Hoga unke Liye [For Indian batsmen, it won’t be a cakewalk],” Ghani said while talking to cricketsoccer.com.

The Afghanistan Test team is laden with quality spinners. They’ve two talismanic spinners in Rashid and Mujeeb, who have shown the skills – to flummox the best in the business.

Moreover, the visitors will also have the services of Zahir Khan (who could not play for Rajasthan Royals (RR)) and Amir Hamza.

Ghani added that the absence of Virat Kohli in the historic Test match will not impact the Afghan team.

The 29-year-old Kohli is currently recuperating from his neck injury that he suffered during the recently-concluded IPL.

“Irrespective of whether Virat plays or not, it won’t matter for our bowlers, inshallah. We are a good bowling side and we can trouble any batting line-up in the world. But yes, it would have been great if he had played in this historic game. But, Uski Marji hai [it’s his wish],” Ghani added.

Usman Ghani hopes to reach the semifinal of the World Cup:

The limited-overs opener Ghani added that the team is trying to learn from each other.

“We stay together, we all support each other, enjoy each other’s performance. The juniors respect the seniors and always try to learn from them. Alos, seniors like Asgar, Nabi, Rashid, Shehzad and others are always helping youngsters like me, Mujeeb and rest of the boys. That’s why as a team, we are constantly improving,” Ghani asserted.

Ghani reiterated senior players are guiding the rookie players. In fact, he believes his national team has a good chance to qualify for the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup which is slated in the United Kingdom (UK).

So, inshallah, we will definitely try and do well and reach the semi-finals. We believe it is very much possible as currently we have the strength to beat any team in the world. Actually hum jo Bhi Karte Hai, tough Karte hai [Whatever we do, we do our best],” Ghani concluded.