Virat or no Virat, beating India ultimate: Simmons
NEW DELHI : Phil Simmons, the Afghanistan team coach, said the unavailability of some top India players will not lessen the importance of the one-off Test between the two sides in June, which will also be Afghanistan’s maiden Test.
He added that if Afghanistan win, no one can undermine their feat, with the five-day format being the pinnacle of cricket.
“If Afghanistan win the Test, nobody will say Kohli wasn’t there, Cheteshwar Pujara wasn’t there or (Ajinkya) Rahane wasn’t there. It’s India’s choice what they do with their players,” said Simmons in an interview on the sidelines of the launch of Afghan Premier League.
“If we win, we have beaten India. We will take that.”
India face their toughest assignment this year when they travel to England for five Tests, three ODIs and as many T20s in June. Keeping that in mind, Test specialists like Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane will land in England a little earlier to acclimatise to the conditions.
Kohli will play for Surrey in the Division One of English county in June while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma, both of whom went unsold at the IPL 2018 auctions, are currently playing for Sussex and Yorkshire respectively.
The India captain, who managed just 134 runs in 10 innings during the England tour in 2014, had expressed his desire to prepare well before the tour.
“Playing county cricket will help me improve my game,” Kohli had said.
BRILLIANT INITIATIVE
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Friday confirmed that the inaugural five-team Afghan Premier League will be played from October 5-23 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The tournament will most likely be played in Sharjah. Like the IPL, each team will field seven Afghan players and four overseas.
“Asked about the initiative from the ACB, Simmons said: “It’s a huge step. It shows they are looking forward to be a big player in cricketing world. To take an initiative like this shows they have an ambition, they want better teams for their players.
“Rashid (Khan) just came out from nowhere. Same goes with Mujeeb (Zadran).
“Luckily, Afghanistan has this league now and a lot of people from around the world are going to watch the young players.
“They (young) players might be found sooner than Rashid and Mujeeb. We might have a 15-year-old coming and making his mark.”
Asked who all he wants to see in the tournament, he said: “We know Indian players might not be available, which is understandable. It would be nice to see some big T20 names like Chris Gayle, David Miller participate.”