Afghanistan cricketers skip media meet and greet; choose to focus on Test match

The Afghanistan cricket team took to the M Chinnaswamy wicket in a bid to do some practice ahead of their much-anticipated Test match against the Indians. While this will be their first, it would also seem as though there are several other things that may well be their first. The Indians – especially a returning Dinesh Karthik took to the media with the utmost of ease. In fact, he took time away from the nets to do so.

However, as far as Asghar Stanikzai, the dashing Afghan skipper was concerned, it was quite clear that this was something he was indeed not prepared to forgo. The Afghans, as it had seemed, had very less time to prepare themselves. Moreover, with this being their debut Test, it was clear that they were not going to take this one lightly.

Previously, in Dehradun, the media attention went to such an extent that it was Afghan coach Phil Simmons who had little choice but to act as the media manager and ensure that riots between the media did not break out.

‘We cannot affect our practice time’ – Stanikzai

Asghar Stanikzai, the Afghan skipper came out and lambasted the media in India for continuously disrupting the practice between the breaks. In fact, Rashid was also seen signing autographs each time before eventually heading back up into the haven of the dressing sheds, something that brought a lot of animosities, to say the least.

“There is lot of media demand in India and everyone wants individual interview, now, we cannot affect our practice time. We have given most time to media. But this the last moment and we need to focus on our game and plan our strategies. This is most important for us,” Shir Agha Hamkar, the team manager, told Sportstar on Tuesday.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.