2024-09-09 09:42:34
New Delhi: The Afghanistan cricket team is fully prepared for the one-off Test against New Zealand. This will be New Zealand’s first Test match against Afghanistan which is important for them in many ways. The New Zealand team has to play six Test matches in the difficult conditions of the subcontinent. This will be the first time in the last 40 years that their team will play so many Tests in the subcontinent. New Zealand’s record in the subcontinent is not good. They have lost 40 out of the 90 matches they have played here. Their team will be desperate to improve this record.
Senior batsman Kane Williamson has stressed the need to adapt to the conditions and his goal will be to be well prepared for the series against India next month. The pitches in the subcontinent are expected to help spinners and New Zealand has come fully prepared for this. Its team includes five spinners.
Duleep Trophy: Rishabh Pant ‘infiltrated’ Shubman Gill’s team, secretly listened to the whole plan, video goes viral
The spinners of both the teams will create a stir
These include Ayaz Patel, who achieved the feat of taking 10 wickets in an innings in Mumbai in 2021. New Zealand expects Rachin Ravindra to perform well with the bat and ball. Apart from these, all-rounders Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell are the other spinners included in the team. Matt Henry is currently New Zealand’s best fast bowler, but captain Tim Southee’s decline in Test form will be a matter of concern.
The player who dismissed Virat Kohli 10 times has retired, he was also a teammate in IPL
Afghanistan achieved Test status in 2017 and this will be only their tenth Test match. They have lost to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland in the last three matches but they have defeated Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe before this. Most of the Afghanistan players are experts in T20 cricket and the biggest challenge for them will be to adapt to the conditions of the longer format.
Remember Andrew Flintoff who had a fight with Sourav Ganguly? Now England Cricket has given a big task to the all-rounder
The teams are as follows:
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hasan, Afsar Zazai (wicketkeeper), Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Bahir Shah, Shahidullah Kamal, Azmatullah Umarzai, Shams ur Rehman, Zia-ur-Rehman, Zahir Khan, Qais Ahmed, Khalil Ahmed and Nijat Masood.
PCB is a circus and the people working in it are jokers… Former cricketer ripped apart his own board
New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
The match will start at 10 am Indian time.