Afghanistan needs to play more long-format cricket in order to improve, India skipper Ajinkya Rahane believes.
“I didn’t expect the match to get over in two days. But you cannot blame the Afghanistan batsmen (for the collapse). This was their first match. It’s about playing five-day cricket regularly.
“If not matches, they have to practise with the red ball regularly, and create Test match situations in the nets. Their bowlers are very good, so if their batsmen face their bowlers regularly in the nets, they can learn from it. I think their bowlers can damage any top team,” Rahane said.
The quality in the Indian bowling attack made matters very simple for Rahane.
“The biggest positive from this match was our bowling. Our guys are really experienced. They know what to do," Rahane said.
On the pitch and the batting performance, Rahane said, “We wanted a pitch similar to what we will get in the upcoming England series. As for our batting, the ball was moving around in the first session, so it was important for our openers to spend some time in the middle. “Shikhar Dhawan and M. Vijay did just that, and capitalised on their start.”
