India will be a part of the history when they take on Afghanistan in their Test debut on Thursday, 14 May. Afghanistan will become the 12th team to get the Test nation status. They along with Ireland were granted the Test nation status by ICC last year. Ireland has already made its debut last month against Pakistan and now it is Afghanistan’s turn to play the five-day format.
Afghanistan Cricket Board elected India as their opponent for Test debut because of the flourishing bilateral relationship between the two nations. The Afghan team has been using Indian cricketing facilities and Indian grounds have also served as their home venue in the past. The Afghan players are excited for the historic one-off Test and share their stories and rapport with Indian players.
Mohammad Shahzad, easily identifiable due to his burly structure, the fiery wicket-keeper batsman is an admirer of MS Dhoni and also plays ‘helicopter shot’ like him. Talking to Cricbuzz Shazad in fluent Hindi talks about his relationship with former Indian captain Dhoni and what all he can do for the Indian wicket-keeper batsman.
In the first segment of the video, Shahzad exclaims that after food he is fond of sleeping. “I cannot avoid two things. First one is sleeping, I cannot sacrifice it at all and second one is food. These are two (dear) things which I cannot take a chance on,” Shahzad said.
However, on being asked if Dhoni is playing then will he be wide awake to watch his innings to which his answer was positive.
“I will drink some water for some time and try to stay awake,” was his initial response. Then he also narrated an instance where he waited for Dhoni’s innings to get over while resuming his normal life.
“There was a time when India were playing a final in the West Indies. Dhoni was batting at the end of innings and some 15 odd runs were required in the last over,” Shahzad said.
“It was Ramzan at that time as well. Around 3 to 4 minutes were left for Iftaar and food was in front of me. It is said at that time whatever is asked from Allah he grants us,” he added.
“Dhoni was unfit for a couple of games earlier and was only playing the final against Sri Lanka. 15 were needed of the last over. I prayed to Allah that India win this match and Dhoni finishes the match. So, I had prayed and delayed my food for a while then. So, I can delay sleep as well,” he concluded saying.
Earlier, Shahzad had told news agency PTI about his rapport with Indian player especially Dhoni.
“I have played against India three-four times and after the match gets over, I have dropped in at Dhoni’s room and chatted for hours. He usually asks me ‘what’s happening in Afghanistan’ and at my home. We don’t tend to talk a lot about wicket-keeping and batting, it is just regular stuff about life. His room is always open for a chat but yes, it is tough to reach him on his mobile number,” he said.
