Where do Afghanistan go from here?
In less than 48 hours they learnt the difference between white and red ball cricket. Had they not played the Test in Bengaluru, romantics (among whom I count myself) would have shouted hoarse about giving them an opportunity, spreading the game to more countries, and rewarding bravery and courage in their daily lives with a spot among the Test-playing nations. It seemed politically incorrect to criticise Afghanistan.
Yet, to take on the No. 1 team in their own backyard without any real preparation was asking for too much. No, they did not have the better spinners, as their skipper Asghar Stanikzai claimed. It was a reckless statement, but in keeping with the modern strategy of making tall claims before a Test. Psychological warfare, they call it. The two Ravis, Ashwin and Jadeja, had a combined experience of 92 Tests and 476 wickets. The visiting spinners had zero wickets and zero experience, so here was another important lesson for Afghanistan.
Different ball game
White ball cricket is about attacking all the time, about doing different things in short spans of time, about throwing everything into your ten overs or four as the case might be, of swinging in hope when under pressure as a batsman. Test cricket is another sport altogether. It is about doing the same things over long periods of time, about patience and the ability to grind it out, about out-staring the opponents batting or bowling.
Yet, for all that, Afghanistan need not lose heart. It would be cruel to measure a team playing their first Test with the same yardstick used to measure one playing their 522nd, as India were. Of the three teams granted Test status before Aghanistan and Ireland were this year, only Sri Lanka have looked the part.
In 26 years, Zimbabwe have played 105 Tests, winning just 11, nine of them at home while Bangladesh’s 106 Tests in 18 years have yielded ten victories, six of them at home. These are depressing figures, and the question is, what is being done to bring these teams up to scratch?
Solutions
Firstly, they need more competition. Last month Australia cancelled a visit by Bangladesh for two Tests (and three ODI) saying it was not “financially viable.” Bangladesh haven’t toured there since 2003; last year the teams split a two-Test series in Bangladesh 1-1.
Financial viability rather than cricketing evangelism will continue to be the guiding principle across the world. In theory, the top teams must play those at the bottom and ensure that the gap between the two halves in the rankings isn’t so vast. But that is not likely to happen.
A two-tier system (in practice, if not actually in laid-out theory) with Zimbabwe, Ireland, Bangladesh and Afghanistan playing Tests among themselves with perhaps another team or two is the more likely. The World Test Championship cycle begins in June next year; only the top nine teams are in the fray. The early rungs of the Test ladder are a very lonely place. It is not about talent but lack of opportunity.
If top countries are not interested in playing the rest, they can help in another way. By adopting teams and letting them play in their national championships. Thus, Ireland play in England, Zimbabwe in South Africa, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in India.
Such “adoption” might have other benefits too. India can plead the cases of their wards for more international cricket far more vigorously. Television — which supplies the moolah — could be made to agree to take on less popular series alongside the marquee ones they pay top dollar for: the Ashes, India v anybody, and so on.
There is enormous passion for cricket among Afghans and Bangladeshis; it would be criminal to let it all go to waste because financial viability is everything.
In fact, such a system should have been in place already. The better players from Ireland have already played for England, but it is not so easy to play first class cricket in or for India.
So where do Afghanistan go from here? They have no idea when they play their next Test, nothing is scheduled. A defeat like the one in Bengaluru will only make white ball cricket seem even more attractive.
Long-term plans
It takes a long while for teams to establish themselves as proper Test-worthy nations and start winning matches, especially abroad. India took two decades to win their first Test at home and 36 years to win abroad. That was then. Neither the International Cricket Council nor national cricket boards have that kind of patience now.
Test cricket is for stayers, for the long-innings batsmen, for the multi-spell bowlers. Ireland, who have a long history in the game did put Pakistan under pressure however briefly in their inaugural Test recently. Afghanistan might not have quite the same pedigree but they are quick learners.
The rest is up to the big boys, and the ICC. Hand-holding is crucial at this stage.
