SWOT analysis of Afghanistan Test squad against India

Afghanistan Cricket Board announced their squad for the upcoming test against India on Tuesday, May 29. The test match has been tagged as ‘historic’ for the Afghanistan team, and it is so in every sense of the term. This is Afghanistan’s maiden test match in the history of cricket. For the first time since they got the status of a test playing nation from ICC, Afghanistan cricket team will be donning the whites, that too against an opposition like India, in their home ground.

The test match will take place in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium from June 14 to 18. The 16 member squad will be led by Ashgar Stanikzai. The team has the two stars who shone exceptionally bright in the recently concluded Indian Premier League – Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Being successful at a stage like the IPL alongside big names of the international cricket, that too at such a young age is sure to leave a mark of its own.

Afghanistan is expected to bank on the experience of the veteran first class players like Nabi and Stanikzai, as well as the energy of the young brigade to make the most of their maiden test. Here is a brief analysis of the Afghanistan test team, in relation to the key players and their roles in the team:

Strengths

India, as well as the cricketing fraternity across the world, saw in the last one and a half month what Rashid Khan can do with the white ball. The statistics say that he has scalped 21 wickets from 17 matches, ending at the second spot in the run for the purple cap. Before that, he took 23 wickets from just 3 matches in the first class tournament, ICC Intercontinental Cup.

The other prominent spinner, Mujeeb also showed his prowess, claiming 14 wickets from 11 matches for Kings XI Punjab before a wrist injury sustained in the KKR match sent him out of the tournament. Zahir Khan had it worse, and his shoulder injury suffered in practice forced him out of Rajasthan Royals‘ team even before he played a single match. However, he too was successful in the ICC tournament, being the second highest altogether with 31 wickets. Together with Mohammad Nabi and Amir Hamza Hotak, the four-headed spin attack of Afghanistan might just prove to be their greatest strength in the subcontinental pitch.

Weaknesses

Lack of experience is the major drawback of the Afghanistan team. But since they are going up against the top-ranked test team, they will need all the help they can get. The average experience of the team in first-class matches is a little more than 10 per player. In fact, only four of the current squad has 20 or more first-class outings under their belt. Mohammad Nabi is at the top with only 32 games, followed by skipper Stanikzai and Mohammad Shahzad. They have experience in One Day International and T20 Internationals as well.

Given the situation, a lion’s share of responsibility of the team’s batting will fall on the these three. Captain Stanikzai has shown good form in the first class competition, scoring 624 runs including four hundreds, but the rest can be a worry for the team. Nabi was part of the Sunrisers team as well but did not play more than 2 games.

The pace bowling department can be an issue as well. Their seasoned fast bowler Dawlat Zadran is out owing to a critical knee injury. In his place, young Wafadar has been called up to join the team. But Afghanistan will surely miss Zadran as he had both experience and statistics on his favour. But now the team has to make do with Wafadar, Yamin Ahmadzai and Sayed Ahmed Shirzad.

Opportunities

Being the newborn in the test circuit, Afghanistan will get down to the field with absolutely zero pressure on their backs. Also, even though the match will be technically played on India’s home turf, Afghanistan to has been swinging their arms and willows on Indian grounds for a while now. They shifted base to the Greater Noida stadium in 2015, and ever since it has been sort of their home.

The best thing they can do is turn both of these factors to their favour and play their own game. Moreover, the youngsters of the team like Rahmat Shah, Hasmatullah Shahidi and Ishanullah Janat are youngsters, all have a pretty impressive average in their short but effective first-class career.

If the whole team can perform to their level best in the match, and try to go to toe-to-toe with the giants of international cricket, Afghanistan will be earning a place of respect in the circuit and prove to the world that they were worthy of the test status.

Threats

The biggest opportunity factor of the Afghanistan team can also be their greatest threat. It is true that without the stress of expectation, the team can play their game freely and focus on the positives. But their lack of any previous exposure in the longer format against any of the big nations can also hit them back like a boomerang. Losing a critical wicket early on in the innings or going through a couple of bad spells might become a bigger factor for their morale than they can afford to. The risk of letting the momentary outcome of the ongoing game get to their nerves will always be lurking there.

Afghanistan Squad: Asghar Stanikzai (c), Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Jannat, Rahmat Shah, Nasir Jamal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Zahir Khan, Hamza Hotak, Syed Ahmad Sherzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar Momand, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.