Afghan skipper Shahidi calls for more Test opportunities

Eight summers ago, Afghanistan entered the Test fold with a game against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Since that momentous occasion, which although ended in a thumping innings defeat, the Afghans have gone on to feature in just 11 more completed Tests (a game against New Zealand in Greater Noida in 2024 was abandoned without a ball bowled).

In the lead-up to another Test against India, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi called for his team to get more Test assignments. He has a fairly inexperienced squad at his disposal for the challenge against Shubman Gill’s men.

“We need to have more opportunities to build our Test team. You know, we play only one or two Tests every year, so the boys don’t have that much experience of playing red-ball cricket. But when it comes to our domestic structure, we have good First Class cricket in our country. Every boy plays six-seven games every year with the red ball,” Shahidi said on Thursday.