Afghanistan fall flat in Test of patience, lose in 2 days

Bengaluru : The day for the Afghan cricketers began in euphoria, with an early morning Eid feast and gaiety; it ended in despair when they were handed a rare two-day defeat by India in their inaugural Test match. Afghanistan were bowled twice on Friday, lasting a total of 66.3 overs in their two innings of 109 and 103 runs, to lose by an innings and 262 runs.
The exploits of Afghanistan’s cricketers in T20 cricket have made some of them international heroes. But Test cricket is an altogether different beast. Afghanistan’s technique and temperament were brutally exposed. Only two of their batsmen lasted over 50 deliveries across their two innings. They failed to handle both path and spin, and the longest partnership of two innings was 37 runs between captain Asghar Stanikzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi, lasting 17.1 overs; the stand ended when Stanikzai, losing patience after 13 non-scoring shots, tried to go for glory by hitting Ravindra Jadeja for a six. This is not how Test cricket is played — not if you are trying to save a match.  “We were surprised with the match ending in two days because our team is good,” Stanikzai said later. But what is good in T20 cricket is not necessarily good in Test cricket. The International Cricket Council’s decision to award the Test status to Afghanistan will be questioned, for they were certainly not prepared to take on a top team in the toughest format of the sport.  Afghanistan will make progress in Test cricket, but that will happen only if they focus on first-class cricket. This is what India captain Ajinkya Rahane and Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons emphasised. “It was just a beginning, you cannot blame them,” Rahane said. “They tried their best. After the first innings, they were trying to stay on wicket, but it still is a beginning. It’s just about playing those (four-day) matches, five-day cricket regularly. Test cricket is a lot about attitude and patience.”