Afghanistan’s red ball revolution takes flight through adversity and upheaval

Afghanistan played its first Test in 2018, against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Eight years later, it has come a full circle, facing the same team in New Chandigarh, starting Saturday.

These games against the heavyweight bookend the story of a novice embracing a challenge. It is a journey that has weathered adversity and upheavals back home and yet persists.

After its maiden Test, Afghanistan has played 11 Tests, out of which it won four of them and had three of them cancelled – the third being the one against New Zealand at the ignominious Greater Noida ground where a day’s rain left the outfield unplayable for all five days.

There was also a Test between Afghanistan and Australia which never happened because the latter was concerned about the Taliban’s restrictive influence in the country.

Afghanistan’s only wins in Tests have come against Zimbabwe, Ireland and Bangladesh, and it is yet to find a place in the World Test Championship.

“We have more experience now but at the same time we need to play a lot of Test cricket and we need to have more opportunities in the future to build our Test team. You know that we play only one or two Test games every year so the boys don’t have that much experience,” captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said on Thursday.

With limited international exposure for the Afghans, a greater part of their First-Class careers have relied on the Ahmed Shah Abdali four-day tournament. Since its inception in 2017, it has been the premier First-Class tournament in Afghanistan. But international cricket has often held a mirror in front of it.

Bahir Shah, for instance, the highest run-scorer in the tournament’s history, has played just two Tests – against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – and averages just 17. Besides, the national team’s better fortunes in the shorter formats take a toll on the appeal of grinding out in the longest format.

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The dearth of appearances from the national team regulars, who are occupied on duty, does not help either. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan cricket’s most prolific journeymen, have not played since 2017. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, another white-ball regular, last featured in 2019.

But players like Shahidi lead by example. The Afghanistan captain has played 18 games and averages 51 in the competition. He is one of the 11 members in the 14-player squad who played in Ahmad Shah Abdali’s last edition in 2025.

This highlights that despite the big guns missing out, Afghanistan wants to establish the dictate of this tournament being the feeder line.

“When it comes to our domestic structure, we have good First-Class cricket in our country. Every boy plays six or seven games each and every year in red ball, so that experience is also with us. But in test cricket, there will be more tough oppositions and more tough cricket you are facing.

“Everyone knows that most of our players are playing in the franchise leagues and they are doing well when it comes to league cricket. Our performance in white ball as a nation, we achieved a lot in the last couple of years. Everyone knows that the best format of this game is Test cricket, playing in red-ball cricket. So if anyone is better at red ball cricket, they will be good at white-ball cricket,” Shahidi said.

The preparation for the one-off Test in New Chandigarh was meticulous, revealing the importance Afghanistan puts on the longest version of the game while also bearing the tag of an upcoming white-ball team. 

In a format that is supposed to test the reserves of players’ patience, Afghanistan gives all the impression that it knows how to survive.

“We were in Jalalabad, one of our cities in Afghanistan. We came for three weeks and then we had a tournament there. The weather was also around 34-35 over there. So we get used to that and most of us are okay with the hot weather [in India].

“The 14 guys that we selected are doing well and they are fit enough. The preparation has been going really well and we had some sessions in Delhi and 3 sessions in Chandigarh also,” Shahidi said.

Most would anticipate the upcoming Test to conclude before its full course. Given the huge disparity between the teams, it would not be a far-stretched presumption.

But for Afghanistan, it is a rare opportunity to put a display of its progress yet at the same time get a reality check, especially with the growing calls to expand the WTC to 12 teams.

“WTC and future of test cricket for Afghanistan? You know there are a lot of things which are not in our hands, in our players’ hands,” Shahidi said.

What is in his team’s control? “We are always accepting challenges. If our team is in any position, we just accept that challenge. Not hiding, not going backward, we are always trying to face it. So, this game will be another challenge but at the same time we will try to fight and go for the win,” he said.

Published on Jun 04, 2026