Afghanistan's star opener Ibrahim Zadran has been ruled out of the one-off Test against New Zealand to be played at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground in Greater Noida from September 9 onwards.
Zadran has suffered an ankle sprain in his left leg and will also miss Afghanistan's three-match ODI series against South Africa to be played later this month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Zadran's injury is a major blow to Afghanistan's chances of doing well against the Blackcaps as the right-hander has been one of the most prolific run-getters for them in recent years. In his absence, Afghanistan are likely to field two inexperienced openers in the form of Abdul Malik and Riaz Hassan.
Hashmatullah Shahidi expects international cricket to reach Afghanistan soon
Afghanistan's red-ball captain Hashmatullah Shahidi wants international cricket to be played in his country so that the Afghan players can actually get a home advantage. Until that happens, he just wants to have a designated home venue for his side in India.
"If you see, India is our home and when we host teams, the other nations have played more cricket than us here," Shahidi was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to the Test match against New Zealand. "So hopefully we will get one good venue here in India and we stick with that. If we stick with one venue, it will be more effective for us."
"And one more thing, if you see our players, they have good record in first-class cricket because we play in our own grounds (in Afghanistan). We know our own conditions very well. So hopefully that time comes in future that teams come to Afghanistan. Then our average will be even higher than what it is right now and hopefully our cricket board and BCCI give a good venue for us in India and we play a lot of cricket in one venue," he added.
