Calcutta/New Delhi: World's premier T20 bowler Rashid Khan is one of the four spinners in the 16-strong Afghanistan squad announced on Tuesday for the historic one-off Test against India in Bangalore, starting June 14.
Apart from IPL sensations Rashid and young Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the other two spinners are chinaman Zahir Khan and left-arm orthodox Amir Hamza Hotak in the Ashgar Stanikzai-led squad.
Rashid and Mujeeb had made the entire world sit up and take notice of their talent in the shortest format, but the duo are set to face a different battle of attrition with the red SG Test ball in their hands. Between them, they have played only four first-class games - all four played by Rashid, while 17-year-old Mujeeb is yet to play in the longer format.
While Afghanistan will be almost at their full strength, India will be without their regular captain Virat Kohli.
Kohli had initially opted to play for Surrey in County cricket as part of his preparation for the upcoming series in England. However, he suffered a neck injury during the latter half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and will no longer be playing for Surrey.
India Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is also uncertain for the Test against the Afghans. Saha picked up a thumb injury while playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier II of the IPL.
Ajinkya Rahane will be captaining India in the Test.
Afghanistan's batting will primarily depend on captain Stanikzai, flamboyant opener Mohammed Shahzad and batting all-rounder Mohammed Nabi. In all, the squad has a collective experience of 205 first-class games, which makes it 13.6 four-day games per player. Only four players have an experience of 20 plus first-class matches.
Nabi, who has the experience of playing for Sunrisers in the past two IPL seasons, is the most capped first-class player with 32 games. He is followed by captain Stanikzai with 23 games, pacer Yamin Ahmadzai (22 games) and Shahzad (20 games).
Afghanistan, however, will miss their experienced seamer Dawlat Zadran who's out with an injury and the pace department will be handled by Ahmadzai and Sayed Ahmed Shirzad.
Experienced left-arm seamer Shapoor Zadran has been picked for the T20Is against Bangladesh in Dehradun, but he has not been picked in the longer version as he last played a four-day game in 2013.
Undoubtedly, all eyes will be on Rashid, whom Tendulkar has termed as the "best T20 bowler in the world."
"He is doing really well, especially in the shortest format. He was fantastic for the Sunrisers, he is a quality bowler and everyone needs to accept and respect that. Afghanistan can't be taken lightly because in cricket and generally in life, you cannot take anything for granted," India's stand-in captain Rahane said.
"Qualifying for a Test is the biggest thing for Afghanistan cricket and that is good for cricket. We don't want to take any team lightly. We just want to go out there and play with the same intensity as we do with every other team."
