BENGALURU : Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman have become familiar names over the last two months. As the historic Test between Afghanistan and India comes closer, the hosts are very much wary of the threat the tweakers pose. Though it will only be their first Test ever, the three have already craved out a name for themselves. So much, that captain Asghar Stanikzai even said Afghanistan’s spinners are better than India’s. Throughout the IPL, it was evident that established batsmen were struggling to pick Rashid’s variations.
He has three different ways of bowling his stock delivery — leg-break — and two varieties of googly, which left even Virat Kohli flummoxed. The story was no different with Mujeeb, who was trusted by Kings XI Punjab, to even bowl at the death. As India gear up to face the debutants on an M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch that has favoured spinners in the recent past, they are not wasting time in looking for methods to get used to the challenge Afghanistan pose.
As the India players began their practice session at the National Cricket Academy premises on Monday, there were three surprise net bowlers. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who is not part of the Test side, bowled a lot. So did Shivil Kaushik — a leftarm mystery spinner — who troubled batsmen briefly in the IPL with his chinaman a few years ago. Express understands Kaushik was called up because he releases the ball from the back of his hand, which makes it difficult to pick. It is something Rashid is notoriously good at.
The other surprise face was left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind, who in February announced retirement, and on Saturday was named coach of the Karnataka Ranji Trophy team. Aravind was bowling to top order batsmen, who have to counter the six-foot-two Shapoor Zardan, who can ask a question with nagging bounce. Although most of the India bowlers had a go, there were other net bowlers as well, namely Lochan Appanna, an all-rounder who was summoned for his skiddy nature. The team management has also put together plenty of videos of Afghanistan tweakers to help the batsmen get familiar with what they would face.
Karun Nair, who is expected to play in the middle-order and who has faced Mujeeb at the Kings XI Punjab nets, said the team is doing its homework. Asked about Stanikzai’s statement, he cited the experience of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. “That’s a pretty big statement to make, considering they haven’t played Test cricket. All of our spinners have proven themselves in Test cricket... there isn’t much to say on that. Talking about Rashid, most of us have played him in the IPL but this is a different ball game. This is a Test match and no one has played him in Tests. I don’t think he has played too many redball games either. The key is to be watchful and take it as it comes,” he said. Meanwhile, with rain expected, and the sun hiding behind clouds, the pitch is unlikely to be dry and might not take much of spin. Uneven bounce might still cause a problem or two.
Shami fitness opens door for Saini
Seamer Mohammed Shami has been released from the India squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, which starts on Thursday, after failing a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy on Monday. Express understands the pacer failed to clear the yo-yo test, which is mandatory for selection. He has been replaced by uncapped Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini, who picked up 34 wickets in Ranji Trophy last season. Shami, prior to his arrival in Bengaluru, was part of the World XI squad for the T20 match against West Indies last week, but didn’t play. On Monday, when the players were put through the yo-yo test, the rest of the squad apart from Shami cleared the 16.1 mark. After consulting physios, the team management decided to rest the pacer ahead of the England tour. Shami is learnt to have caused some damage to his hamstring during training. Sources in the know said it was only a minor niggle and he was left out for not clearing the test.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com