Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus on Friday said the course of the one-off Test against India, starting on Saturday, will be determined by how batters from both teams handle the spin challenge.
India and Afghanistan will face off on Saturday in what will be only their second-ever Test in history, having previously played another one-off game in Bengaluru in June 2018. That match was won by India inside two days.
“The Mullanpur pitch, for how long the grass cover can hold the pitch together and how well both sides play, with spin bowling playing a huge part, will decide the course of the Test,” Pybus told reporters here on the eve of the match.
No Rashid But…
Afghanistan will be without their star spinner Rashid Khan, who has been rested to manage his workload
and prolong his availability in white-ball cricket.
The right-arm spinner recently featured in the Indian Premier League for the Gujarat Titans, where the team reached the final.
Pybus said Rashid has a long-standing back-related issue.
“Rashid has got this long-standing back complaint. He’s got such a huge volume of cricket, you know, he’s got to manage himself,” Pybus said.
“I look forward to having that conversation to see how we can support him, not only just with the opportunity to maybe continue to play some red-ball cricket if there is potential for that, but generally make sure he can play as long and as healthy as possible for Afghanistan,” the Englishman said.
Having taken charge from fellow Englishman Jonathan Trott, Pybus said he has already spoken with the former middle-order batter about Afghan cricket.
“I had a chat with Jonathan Trott to understand his journey and congratulated him for developing a side,” Pybus said.
IND vs AFG – Full Squads:
India: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey,
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmanullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafudin Ashraf, Nangyal Kharotai, Qais Ahmad, Bilal Sami, Zia Sharifi, Saleem Safi
(With inputs from Agencies)
