Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi: We face Rashid, Nabi, Noor & Mujeeb at nets and can play spin better

However, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi feels the Afghan batsmen are one of the finest players of spin, considering the spinners they face in the nets.

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“We play better spinners in the net sessions. Like if you see Rashid, Nabi, Noor and Mujeeb, we play them every day. So, I think our team is far better in playing spin bowling,” he said.

“So in that game, you know we struggled but you can’t say that we are not good enough after one bad game. We know we can play spinners better and we will try to come back in the next game and do better,” he added.

The Afghanistan skipper also toned down the anticipated rivalry between Virat Kohli and fast bowler Naveen ul Haq. “India is like our home, it was our home, we played here and the people of India give a lot of love to Afghanistan people. And what happened on the ground, that aggression comes to every player; it’s not about India and Afghanistan. We have idols from the Indian team like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. So, there’s not any concern about what happened in the past.”

Kohli and Naveen were involved in an on-field altercation during the IPL. The on-field exchange later dragged on social media, with Kohli saying an RCB video: “A sweet win. If you can give it, you gotta take it. Otherwise, don’t give it.”

Naveen, too, wasn’t apologetic. “You get what you deserve. That’s how it should be, and that’s how it goes,” he posted on Instagram.

The Afghan skipper at the captain’s meet in Ahmedabad said that if they put runs on the board, they have the bowling line-up, which can defend any total.

“Yes, I made a statement initially that we need to do well as a batting unit. We have a good spin bowling attack, but only one department can’t win you games. You have to score runs for that, to win the game,” he said.

Against Rashid Khan, opposition teams have tried to play through his overs without taking risks to nullify the threat he possesses.

“Rashid is the best bowler in ODI and T20s, so whatever opposition he is playing, we don’t care about how they are playing Rashid, but for us the important thing is how he has planned against the opposition.”