Highlights
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It puts them in an elite set of 12 sides permitted to compete in the game’s longest form
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He had been named head coach of Afghanistan in June last year
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Afghanistan created a debut in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
Head trainer Lalchand Rajput is busy plotting how to create a five-day character to a group more attuned to the hard-hitting nature of cricket even though Afghanistan observe their status as a Test-playing nation, far away in Mumbai.
Cricket gained popularity if the sport home was taken by refugees residing in Pakistan after imposing a homeland ravaged by the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1990s together.
“it is a great accomplishment for them. Every country would love to be called as a Test-playing country,” former India cricketer Rajput told Reuters in an interview.
“They’ve been working hard for the past few years. And this is the benefit that they got after acting, particularly has been very good.
“We began beating Evaluation sides, we all beat Zimbabwe, we conquer Ireland. It is a huge factor for the sport in Afghanistan and its people. They’re so enthusiastic about cricket there.”
An Mumbai batsman using a first-class typical of near 50, Rajput was manager of the India group that won the Globe Twenty20 in 2007.
In June last year, he had been named head coach of Afghanistan, replacing former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
“Everyone was keenly waiting for this ICC meeting to happen,” Rajput, who played two Tests and four ODIs to India, stated on Friday.
“They were all very excited that today they will all be called Test players. Each cricketer’s dream is to become a Test cricketer, that is the test. This can be a big, huge thing for them.”
Having played in World Twenty20 events, the side created a debut in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
They have also been impressive in the Intercontinental Cup, a competition for members.
“This is a huge challenge. Being from Mumbai, we all know this mindset of ‘khadoos’ (stubbornness) in the area’s cricketers and that has to be imbibed in the Afghanistan players,” the 55-year-old Rajput added.
“Because you must have a price in your wicket, you can’t throw away your wicket readily. Plus the temperamental element know. And playing with big innings, that is very, very important.”
Rajput believes the Afghan players are tough hitters of the his or her job is to make them comprehend the need to invest time instead of chasing quick runs in the middle.
“In the Intercontinental Cup we was able to get out early, the most score was 250-300. However, this season, we performed against Ireland and you will be surprised we have over 500 runs for eight wickets declared,” he explained.
“The captain (Asghar Stanikzai) got 145 and the other guy got several hundred. So they’re currently getting into the manner of scoring big hundreds. Steadily and slowly we will be there, we will improve.
“I can’t change it overnight, it will take a while. But we are going in this direction.”
Sticking to things with the ball, 18-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan seems a real prospect and he recently took 7/18 in a one-dayer from West Indies after a solid showing in the past edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 championship.
Off-spinner Mohammad Nabi along with captain also gained exposure to the planet’s best batsmen as the team partner in the IPL’s Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise of Rashid.
“We have the bowling. But yes, we must check at choices as well because in Test cricket that you need folks to take 20 wickets,” the trainer added.
“In one-day cricket you have to bowl tight. Therefore the mindset has to be to take wickets as opposed to bowling.
“We’ve got yet another left-arm wrist-spinner. I watched him playing for the under-19s and stated ‘I need him’.
“Slowly I will make him play four-day games and give him confidence so that he gets better and plays the one time format consistently. Exactly like Rashid, he is also a wicket-taking bowler.”