AFG vs NZ 1st Test: New Zealand team welcomed in Afghan style in Greater Noida

New Delhi| New Zealand team has reached India for the one-off test against Afghanistan. As soon as the New Zealand team reached the hotel, it was written on the board outside, ‘Warm welcome to the New Zealand team in Afghan style’ and ‘Welcome to the Black Caps’. Captain Tim Southee led the team and flowers were showered on the players when they reached the team hotel in Greater Noida. ACB shared its video.

Afghanistan and New Zealand will face each other in the only test match. The match will be played at the Greater Noida Sports Complex ground from September 9. It is also the adopted home ground of the Afghanistan team and the venue will host the only Test match between the two teams. Players like Rachin Ravindra and Ben Sears are already present in India for this match. They are training at Super Kings Academy. The Cricket Academy is an initiative of Chennai Super Kings, which is also spread across Tamil Nadu and abroad. Being a CSK player, Ravindra got a chance to train at the academy and was accompanied by New Zealand teammate Sears.

Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan will miss the Test format in the near future to rest his back, which he underwent surgery for last year. A source in the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said that Rashid and the team management have mutually decided to take a break from the longer format of cricket in view of his back problem. Rashid had undergone back surgery after the ODI World Cup held in India in October-November and has been out of the game for four months since then. He was part of the recent T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies, where he captained Afghanistan to the semi-finals.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced a 20-man preliminary squad for the upcoming one-off Test and the team has been training in India since arriving in Greater Noida on 28 August. The board will select a 15-man squad for the one-off Test match after assessing the performance of the players. The New Zealand team will then play a three-match Test series against India. It will start on October 16. New Zealand would then travel to Sri Lanka for a series of three T20Is and three ODIs.