Rashid Khan actively participated in Afghanistan’s conference as the team prepared to defend 272 against a formidable Indian batting lineup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. However, he was not involved in the actual endeavor to make the target appear larger than it was on a relatively harmless surface.
Rohit Sharma was batting on 88 off 52 when he was finally brought on to bowl as the captain’s sixth and final bowling option in a total of six. India had scored 125 runs without loss in 14 overs, and Rohit Sharma was batting on 88. In other terms, the contest was effectively finished. Afghanistan’s bowling ace conceded only 10 runs in his first two overs and terminated the 156-run opening stand with his signature googly in his third. He also dismissed Rohit, but not before the Indian captain gave the final stages of the game a sense of conclusion.
It was not an isolated instance of failure. Prior to last night’s contest, only two of Rashid’s overs had occurred during the PowerPlay since the beginning of the year. Since 2022, Afghanistan have had Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooq, the latter trailing only Mohammed Siraj and Matt Henry for wickets in the first ten overs. Therefore, Afghanistan have not required his services during this phase.
However, given that both Farooqi and Mujeeb had proven costly, there was cause to send Rashid on sooner than they did, particularly given his strong head-to-head record against Rohit (four dismissals in 34 balls), albeit in Twenty20 cricket.
The team’s head coach, Jonathan Trott, conceded that the practice of holding back the ace spinner would be reconsidered. “I did not restrain him. Trott stated after the loss, “I believe it’s simply a matter of getting Rash involved as soon as possible.”
“You know, the captain obviously had a feel or a gut feel that he wanted to go with, and that’s the case. I think that’s a captain’s prerogative. And I think there is a case maybe when the ball gets a little bit older for Rash to bowl with it, and it gets a little bit more turn, it doesn’t skid on as much. So, there’s six of one half a dozen of the other. But certainly, you want a guy like Rash in the attack as soon as possible. So, it’s always something we’ll look at.”
Despite the loss in Delhi, Trott saw improvement from his team, particularly with the bat, after a forgettable performance against Bangladesh in the series opener. The head coach conceded that the team’s 156 score in Dharamsala may have contributed to its sluggish start and eventual under-par score of 272.
“Overs 20 to 30, 30 to 40, we got 60, 65. So we’re going at over a run-a-ball in those 10. It’s just in the beginning, I think after 20 overs we were sort of around 80, we’re going at fours, and that’s just not good enough, especially when the ball’s hard, you want to be going a lot quicker and scoring a few more runs,” Trott said.
“But I think maybe it’s a little bit of a hangover from the Bangladesh game, but I certainly hope now the confidence we’ll have taken into the England game There’s some things that we did really well. There’s some things we need to improve on. But that’s the case for any side, especially developing side playing against the powerhouse of India and on the home patch in Delhi. So yeah, plenty to look forward to, but also lots to work on.”
