CF Correspondent

Afghanistan proved they are here to stay in the longer format. The way they had handled the pressure against Bangladesh both with bat and ball it certainly suggest they are well prepared.

Doing well against Bangladesh at their own backyard is certainly difficult for any team as the host nation had been pretty successful with their four-man spin attack in their tailor-made wicket.

Though Shakib al Hasan took a swipe at the ground man for not preparing the wicket according to their expectation it certainly not take away anything from the tourist as they were consistent with the bat on both occasions and had a variety of spin that gave them an edge over their opponent.

During the build-up to the one-match Test series the patience of Afghans looked to be the talking points considering they only had the experience of two Test under their belt.

The patience issue was validated even more considering their exploits in the shorter formats but they proved everyone wrong through their clinical display that put them firmly placed to earn a well deserved win during their maiden Test match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

There was no shortage of temperament and more importantly the way they changed the gear in the third session clearly indicated they came into the business well prepared.

 It was more noteworthy due to the fact they were in all sort of trouble after being reduced to 28-3 at one point before Asghar Afghan and Ibrahim Zadran added valuable 108-run for the fourth wicket that literally took the game away from the opponent, unless they make a miraculous comeback or weather come to their rescue.

The way they resurrected their innings against the host spinners without getting impatient is a clear indication that they are very specific regarding their do’s and don’ts in the longer formats while the batting of Ibrahim Zadran, who made a class half-century on his debut, also suggest they are quick learner as well.

Test cricket is all about mind-set. It is more important when it comes to batting because a mistake is enough as it there is hardly any chance to repair the wounds.

Bangladesh batsmen cannot be spared for carrying a wrong mind-set coupled by poor techniques against quality spin attack.

Host decision of following the tried and tested formula of playing four spinners against their opponent on a spin friendly wicket seemed to have misfired as their opponent put them on the back foot after the second day’s play.

While the Afghan batsman looked to have planned better against their counterparts despite knowing that they will be tested by their opponent with spin-oriented attack, the predictable bowling attack probably seemed to have turned for them much more than their opponent as they seemed quite clue less at times in the middle.

Bangladeshi batsman took two extreme routes against the Afghan attack and both seemed to be quite contradictory as they went very defensive at one stage while they seemed to taken a counter-attack mode at one point of the game.

In a Test match the first innings is always vital because that set the tone of the game but somehow the host failed to get into any kind of momentum against a spin attack that had variety but more importantly had the discipline.

While the host spinners failed to extract much turn largely due to the fact it is always difficult for finger spinners to do that unless there is someone like Nathan Lyon or Ravichardran Ashwin, it was certainly not the case in their opponent camp led-by Rashid Khan and his co.

If their batting in the first innings was a testament of their patience their batting in the second innings was surely an evidence of their character- they were down but never out despite braving the storm and coupled by their spin variety they looked too good for the host.

The Afghans looked better prepared largely due to the fact they had substantial amount of first-class cricket under their belt, courtesy the Inter-Continental Cup while for Ibrahim his tour to Bangladesh with the Afghanistan A looked to have played a big impact.