Afghans upbeat for first Test
The Afghanistan team, led by Rashid Khan, arrived at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram yesterday. The visitors are set to take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test, which will begin on September 5 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Afghanistan reached Dhaka at 9:30am yesterday and had to wait for about two hours for their flight to the port city. Upon their arrival, skipper Rashid, who was named captain of the side across all three formats following the World Cup in July, said that his team is ready to flourish in the longer format of the game.
“It is different. You need to have different a kind of mentality for that [Tests]. You have more time and you need more patience in Test cricket. But as a player you know you need to switch on, switch off playing in like ODI or Test cricket. And we are ready for that. We have worked on that -- how to play four-day or five-day cricket. We had a good camp before coming here. So In Shah Allah we will try to be positive and do well,” said Rashid, who was excited about his new role as captain, to reporters in Chattogram.
Afghanistan, who received Test status as recently as June 2017, will be playing Bangladesh for the first time in the format. Although Rashid seems to hold the Tigers in high regard, he remained confident about his team’s chances.
“We see every team similarly. We see Bangladesh like India, Pakistan or Australia. They have been a top side for the last three or four years with the way they have been playing. Especially in the World Cup, the way they performed was unbelievable. Their cricket is improving day by day. As a team we need to take every team positively and prepare well for each and every team. In Shah Allah it will be a good series for us.”
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