New Zealand will aim to exploit Afghanistan's relative inexperience in red-ball cricket, in the one-off Test starting here from Monday, and gather momentum ahead of their upcoming World Test Championship challenges in the sub continent.
New Zealand's first-ever Test against Afghanistan will kick off a challenging couple of months for the Black Caps who play six long-format matches on the bounce in the subcontinent, something they haven't done in 40 years.
With their underwhelming subcontinent record in mind (40 losses in 90 matches), New Zealand would want to hit the straps straightaway.
Senior batter Kane Williamson has emphasised on the need to adapt to conditions and with three games under their belt, they would be well prepared for the marquee series against India next month.
Spin is expected to dominate proceedings and New Zealand have come well prepared with five slow bowling options.
Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who returns to India for the first time since his 10-wicket haul in Mumbai in 2021, is expected to make the playing XI.
Rachin Ravindra, who has been sweating it out in CSK High Performance Centre in Chennai, is expected to be handy with bat and ball while all-rounders Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell are vying to fill the remaining spinners' spots.
Matt Henry is New Zealand's best seamer at the moment but captain Tim Southee's dip in Test form will be a concern. Will O'Rourke, or express pacer Ben Sears may be given a go.
New Zealand will need to shake off the rust as they haven't played Test cricket since early March and the tenacious Afghanistan side is poised to pose a strong challenge.
For Afghanistan, who obtained Test status in 2017, this will be only their 10th ever outing in the traditional format.
They head to the clash having lost their last three Tests against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland. But in the their brief Test journey they have managed to beat Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
Afghanistan have made significant strides in white-ball cricket, but some players will now need to swiftly make the transition from T20 to Test format.
The disparity in Test experience between Afghanistan and New Zealand is substantial,
but Hashmatullah Shahidi and his team will look to gain from familiarity with the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, where they have previously played five ODIs and six T20Is.
Talismanic all-rounder Rashid Khan is not there to bowl his menacing leg-breaks, which is a huge blow for them, while T20 regulars Rahamnullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi, Fazallaq Farooqui, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq are also not available.
Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and skipper Shahidi, who averages 44.09 in Tests, will burden the batting responsibilities.
Seam-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai is likely to make his Test debut, while Zia-ur-Rehman, Zahir Khan, Khalil Ahmed, Qais Ahmad, Shahidullah Kamal and Bahir Shah are the spin options.
With rain and thunderstorms forecast throughout the week, the match is likely to be affected.
Teams (from):
Afganistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Afsar Zazai (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Bahir Shah, Shahidullah Kamal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shams Ur Rahman, Zia-ur-Rehman, Zahir Khan, Qais Ahmad, Khalil Ahmad and Nijat Masood.
New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner,Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
