AFGHANISTAN TOUR OF INDIA, 2018

Rajput warns against giving Afghanistan a turning track

by Gaurav Gupta • Last updated on

Rashid Khan bowled superb spells of 3 for 13 and 4 for 12 to spin Afghanistan to a T20I series win over Bangladesh. © AFP

Seeing the way the Afghan spinners, Rashid Khan in particular, have been bowling against Bangladesh, India have reasons to worry ahead of June 14 when they take on Afghanistan in Bangalore in the latter's debut Test.

Bamboozling batsmen with his crafty legspin, Khan took 21 wickets at 21.80, and was instrumental in the Sunrisers Hyderabad's march to the IPL-11 final. The 19-year-old then followed that up with superb spells of 3 for 13 and 4 for 12 to spin Afghanistan to a T20I series win over Bangladesh, with a game to go in Dehradun. While Rashid's been on fire, Afghanistan's off-spinners - Mujeeb Ur Rehman and Mohammad Nabi - who played in the IPL too, look dangerous. Though India have two experienced spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and a chinaman bowler in Kuldeep Yadav, former India opener Lalchand Rajput, who was Afghanistan's head coach from 2016 to 2017 - a period during which they gained Test status, has warned the hosts against preparing a turning track at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"On a turning wicket, Rashid will be dangerous. If we give Afghanistan a turning wicket, we'll perish, because they have at least three good spinners," Rajput, who's now the head coach of Zimbabwe, told TOI. Afghanistan have picked as many as five spinners - Khan, Rehman (off-spinner), Mohammad Nabi (off-spinner), Zahir Khan (chinaman), and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza - for the Test.

Rajput feels India will be wise to choose a seaming track. "Their fast bowling attack is comparatively much weaker. Dawlat Zadran is injured and Shapoor Zadran (not in the Afghanistan squad for the Test) is past his prime. The best option for India is to go for a 'green top' and unleash their pacers, who can then even finish off the match inside three days," felt Rajput.

While they've rested Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India have included Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya for this match.

Rajput recommends that India would be better off tackling the Rashid threat by pinching singles off him. "It's very simple. If you try to hit him, you'll end up giving away your wicket. To negotiate him, you've to play on the front foot, and not go on the back foot at all. You've to try and not overpower him, but milk him for singles," he observed.

"You've to look at the way the Chennai Super Kings played him in the IPL final. Before that game, someone had asked me about how to negotiate him. I had said: 'Look, he's only got 24 balls in a T20 game, and if I was the CSK coach, I'd be happy to let him concede around 20 off his four overs. That strategy would automatically blunt him. And that's exactly what happened (Rashid went wicketless and conceded 24 runs), and CSK won by eight wickets," he summed up.

Analysing Rashid's strengths, Rajput said: "Firstly, his deliveries are quick and he bowls a nagging length. Secondly, despite being a legspinner, he uses his fingers, and not the wrist. That makes it difficult for the batsman to read his googly, which is his main weapon."

He believes that batsmen will eventually learn to tackle Rashid better. "If you remember, Ajantha Mendis was touted as a 'mystery spinner' initially, but couldn't sustain his success and is nowhere now. The same could be the case with Rashid," he feared.

© TNN

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