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India v/s Afghanistan Test match: Nervous? I am hearing it first time, says Asghar Stanikzai

"If the match goes into the fourth or the fifth day, there is a possibility of President himself coming to Bengaluru," said their team media manager here on Wednesday.

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Asghar Stanikzai during a training session in Bengaluru on Sunday
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Everyone connected to Afghanistan cricket does not want to miss the historic occasion of their debut Test on Thursday. While the top dignitaries of Afghanistan Cricket Board and some of the former players who have played a role in the nation getting Test status will be present at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the nation's CEO, Abdullah Abdullah will also be present, carrying a message from the country's President, Ashraf Ghani.

"If the match goes into the fourth or the fifth day, there is a possibility of President himself coming to Bengaluru," said their team media manager here on Wednesday.

All the players' families are also descending on Bengaluru for the occasion, a team support staff told this paper.

Asghar Stanikzai, captain, and Phil Simmons, head coach, were optimistic of the team putting up a good show in their maiden Test. Afghanistan's first ever pre-match Test press conference lasting 20 minutes attracted a larger media gathering than the India captain Ajinkya Rahane's 8-minute session on Wednesday.

Looking at the large gathering, Stanikzai was not nervous. Neither is he nor his team "nervous" ahead of their first ever Test match.

"Nervous – I am hearing it for the first time," said Stanikzai, the right-handed middle-order who is also their limited-overs captain, when asked if he felt nervous ahead of their maiden Test.

Stanikzai preferred to speak in his mother tongue, Pashto, and had a translator in the team manager Shir Agha Hamkar sitting beside him.

He was asked a wide range of questions from the style of cricket that his team will play in Tests to the preparation and the mood back home, which the 30-year-old middle-order batsman answered with aplomb. He even remembered the names of former players who played key roles in Afghanistan's rise to Test status but could not be here.

Stanikzai also lauded the domestic structure that continued to unearth young talent in his country. "I think we have a very good domestic structure. We have different tournaments, four-day first-class tournaments, university T20 tournaments. So there are players that you can't hide their potential when they do well in domestic cricket. Because, most of our matches are live on social media, they keep coming through. We have limited players from different provinces but when they perform, we give them chance in our 'A' team and development squads before coming through to the national team."

Sitting next to Stanikzai, former West Indies hard-hitting was also asked equal measure of questions, ranging from how differently he approached coaching Afghanistan to other minnows like Ireland in the past.

The 55-year-old Trinidadian said that the team is both happy and sad that Virat Kohli is not playing for India on the momentous occasion. "I think there will always be a bit of disappointment in the players not to be on the same field as Virat. But, at the same time, we look at it to win the Test match and beat India, we don't beat Virat. So, we are disappointed he is not playing but a little bit happy that we are not going to bowl to him all the time. We are happy to be here and playing India, Virat is not India," said Simmons.

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