Andy Moles, Afghanistan’s interim head coach, has played up their underdog tag ahead of the one-off Test against Bangladesh, but also warned against taking the visitors for granted, ESPN reported.
Moles, who is Afghanistan’s chief selector as well, said that teams find it hard tackling Bangladesh’s spinners in home conditions.
“We have massive respect for Bangladesh team, they are a level above us, but we are not scared of them,” Moles said. “We respect them. They have played some wonderful cricket at home for a long time. We are very much the underdogs.”
“Top sides have found it hard work playing in Bangladesh. We are under no illusion that this is going to be a tough examination of our skills. If we could show application and concentration, we are capable of doing something special over the next five days,” he said.
Afghanistan play Test match against host Bangladesh on September 5 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
The one-off Test will be followed by a triangular T20I series featuring hosts Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, starting from September 13.
The first three games will be at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, while the second three will be back in Chattogram.
Zimbabwe will arrive during the Test and play a practice game before the three sides take part in a T20I tri-series.
