IND vs AFG 2018: Afghanistan Spinner Zahir Khan Confident of Doing Well in Tests

Afghanistan is gearing up for their maiden Test against India scheduled to start on Thursday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

It will be a historic moment for the Afghan boys who have waited a long time for this day. There is no doubt about the fact that Rashid Khan has hogged most of the limelight for the visitors. He has been quite sensational in the limited-overs format.

After a great IPL, he was at his imperious best against Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series.

However, away from the limelight, there is another teenage spinner Zahir Khan who is slowly but steadily mastering his art. The left-arm chinaman bowler will be coming back from an injury. He has made a clear point to spend a considerable amount of time in the nets ahead of the historic moment for the Afghans.

The chinaman bowler is one of those very few players who have some experience of playing in four-day cricket. Zahir has been a regular member of the four-day side and his experience in the format might come in handy for the visitors.

He was bought by the Rajasthan Royals on the recommendation of Shane Warne. However, Zahir had to miss the tournament due to a freakish injury.

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The 19-year old is now confident after a two months rehabilitation process at the CSS-Whatmore Centre for Cricket at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College (SRMC) in Chennai.

Afghanistan coach, Phil Simmons has ensured he has given enough opportunities and attention to Zahir in the nets. The left-arm spinner trained with Mujeeb at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Tuesday. Simmons had kept a close look at their performances.

During a conversation with Sportstar, Zahir admitted he has a great relationship with Rashid Khan which has helped him in the longer format.

“We are very good friends. In four-day games, sometime he would take eight wickets, while I would grab seven. It is fun, playing alongside him,” Zahir had said.

The rise of Zahir has been pretty rapid. Having made it to the longer format quite suddenly following his promotion from Grade A cricket. It was around three years ago when Zahir played a four-day game against Papua New Guinea.

He was not in the initial squad. However, as Rashid Khan failed to get a visa and Zahir already had one, he became the preferred choice.

“But, even then, I travelled with the team and played the game. Actually what happened was, Rashid’s visa had not come, whereas, my visa was ready. So, I was called-up by the team management. [At] that time Inzamam-ul-Haq was our coach. As I reached, captain Asghar Stanikzai encouraged me and said that I will be in the final eleven. It was tough initially, but in the post-lunch session, I took seven wickets,” Zahir had said.

From there on, Zahir has played almost all the four-day games that the Afghans has played. Zahir now will hope to replicate his form in the highest level of cricket.

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