Turning Point

Afghanistan is relying on its spinners to make its first-ever Test match a memorable contest.

- Neeru Bhatia

The picturesque Doon Valley, bound by the Ganga in the southeast and on all other sides by mountains, is known as the home of litchis, a public school named after the valley, and the Indian Military Academy. It is now associated with cricket as well, thanks to the spanking 25,000-seat Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, which is the Afghanistan cricket team’s home ground away from home.

It is a strange choice as the training base of a visiting national squad—for Dehradun has never hosted a First Class match, let alone an international match. Also, Afghanistan’s preferred base has been Greater Noida. Dehradun, however, has worked well for the Afghans, who recently whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0 in the T20 series held in the city. The stadium in Dehradun has also been their training base as they prepare for their historic first Test against India in Bengaluru on June 14.

The bus journey from their hotel, on the outskirts of the city, to the ground takes 30 minutes. After the first T20, the players returned to their rooms way past midnight. As it was Ramadan, they washed themselves up and broke their fast, and went to bed only after 4am.

THE WEEK met the team on a rest day. A few players and officials of the Afghanistan Cricket Board were  in the hotel lobby, while a courier waited outside to deliver a package to a player. Both the courier and the package went through stringent security checks, as the Afghans watched impassively. Security checks and safety drills were part and parcel of their lives.

ACB officials in the lobby were working their phones to make arrangements for the team’s journey to Bengaluru. They spoke not just in Hindi, but in Pashto as well—the ACB had set up a makeshift office in the valley. The officials and the players appeared calm and composed, and not overawed by the prospect of taking on the No 1 Test team in the world.