Afghanistan will begin its campaign against New Zealand in a historic one-off test match in Greater Noida, India, on Monday. With expectations rising, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has admitted to enjoying the batting abilities of two upcoming Afghan players: Riaz Hassan and Bahir Shah, who he thinks will be very important to Afghanistan’s test future.
Through X, Ravichandran Ashwin impressed the boys and himself by claiming that they remind him of the cricketers Yuvaraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif whose contribution in Indian cricket was vital in the initial years of this decade’s millennia.
In the absence of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah, Ashwin believes Ahmed Rias Hassan and Bahir Shahi are two very important players who can stabilize the batting order of Afghanistan.
“I think it will be interesting.” In that, they have Khawaja in spades. We know Afghanistan produces insane talent, but the one area of solidity and stability they need is from their batting department,” Ravichandran Ashwin wrote. “They have Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah oozing class, but not much else to follow, and that is why I am excited to see what Riaz Hassan and Bahir Shah have to offer.”
Ravichandran Ashwin brought attention to the duo’s domestic record, comparing it with the head of the players bullowing them in the first class, both being over 55, emphasizing that these players will ready Afghanistan for the next level.
“Both of them I see promise and both of their first class averages are over 55. The first signs of a future strong India coming up was evolved from a @YUVSTRONG12 and a @MohammadKaif comeback from ageers of the U-19’s in the 2000’s,” stated Ashwin.
Riaz Hassan is a 22 year old with 5 ODIs for Afghanistan where he has cumulatively scored 120 runs with an average of 30. His achievements batting in first class cricket are though more extraordinary where he made 901 runs from 18 innings with an average of 56.31 which includes 3 hundreds and 3 fifties.
Bahir Shah, 24 years old, made his Test debut against Bangladesh last year during which he could score only seven runs in his only innings played . However, his first-class playing statistics are excellent as he has scored 3,254 runs at an average of 59.16 in 69 innings with 10 centuries and 14 fifties.
“They are young players but I feel that, if these two players are able to make it to the team, they would give us a sort of glimpse as to what Afghanistan might be able to do within the next decade or so,” little(skip it)-skipped- Ravichandran Ashwin.
Today, Afghanistan takes on New Zealand in the contest where Riaz Hassan and Bahir Shah will come under the spotlight. Toilets and cricket lovers would want to know whether these under-utilized warriors like Bhati, Sakhi Riaz and Bahir would be able to provide the greatest victory as a team’s best batsman ever again when the core distance goes up, because plain put, sustained success for Afghanistan in Test cricket needs a strong batting lineup.
