Ahead of Afghanistan’s one-off Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong, starting on September 5, new captain Rashid Khan has said that his team has done all the mental preparations on how to play the longest format of the game.
Afghanistan have made impressive progress in white-ball cricket in such little time, but their authority in the longest format still remains a point of discussion. As of now, they have only played two Tests, where they have defeated Ireland in one and suffered a crushing defeat against India in the other.
Having arrived in Dhaka on August 30, the Rashid Khan-led team travelled to Chittagong soon after to acclimatize with the environment of the city.
"I am pretty excited about the new role (as the captain) and the team. I will try my best to be positive and enjoy the game," Rashid told reporters upon arrival.
"It is different (the Test format), and you have to have a different kind of mentality for that.
"You have more time and certainly there is more pressure in Test cricket. As a player, you need to switch on and switch off being playing like in T20, in ODI's and in Test cricket and we are ready for that.
"We have that mental preparation and we have worked on how to play four-day cricket, five-day cricket. We have worked on that, we have had a good practice camp before coming here. Inshaallah we will try our best to do positive and do well in the game.”
Rashid was named as Afghanistan’s new captain across all formats after their dismal performance at the World Cup under Gulbadin Naib. As part of the shuffling, former captain Asghar Afghan, who was sacked as captain just before the World Cup, was named as the team’s vice-captain.
Afghanistan will play a two-day practice game at Chittagong before their one-off Test. Following that, they will be a part of a T20 tri-nation tournament, with Zimbabwe being the third team.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Money Sharma
