Afghanistan’s budding spinner AM Ghazanfar is excited to put his close observation of Rohit Sharma from his time with the Mumbai Indians to use when he faces the legendary Indian batsman in the next ODI series.
The 19-year-old off-spinner, who is thought to be one of Afghanistan’s best prospects, admitted that bowling to Rohit frequently during IPL training sessions gave him a unique chance to comprehend the subtleties of the task while up against the best batters in the globe.
“Rohit bhai is a legend and a very good player. He opens the batting and we bowl with the new ball. Whatever we have learnt from him, Inshallah, we will try to use it to our advantage and see what happens,” PTI quoted Ghazanfar as saying during an interaction ahead of the ODI series.
The youngster also revealed that while they were teammates at Mumbai Indians, Rohit gave him a lot of advice.
“Once when I was batting, he gave me some tips. I really appreciated that and I am thankful to him,” he said.
Ghazanfar was exposed to some of the best players in the game, such as Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma, thanks to his affiliation with the Mumbai Indians during the just finished IPL season. The Afghan spinner claimed that being in a changing room with well-known international players had greatly benefited his growth.
“In the IPL, you get the absolute best of both worlds — very good players and excellent coaching. Playing matches with them and sharing the dressing room helped me learn a lot. Cricket is a game of constant learning and I want to keep learning even more in the future.”
The spinner went on to say that even though some players are playing franchise cricket, Afghanistan’s ODI series preparations have been just as rigorous.
“The IPL was very good for us. It is very hot here and we have adjusted to the conditions. Before coming here, our team had a month-long camp in Kabul. We have already adapted to the pitches and weather and the players are feeling energetic.”
Ghazanfar, who advanced through Afghanistan’s quickly growing cricket hierarchy, feels that competition for spots has been much more intense over time.
“There are a lot more talented players in Afghanistan now. It is difficult to reach international cricket, leagues and franchise cricket directly from domestic cricket, but belief, preparation and working on your skills can make things easier.”
Interestingly, Ghazanfar claimed that the national team itself served as his inspiration, in contrast to many young Afghan cricketers who grew up admiring individual players like Rashid Khan or Mohammad Nabi.
“Our role model was the Afghanistan team. We all used to watch our national team when we were growing up,” he added.
Afghanistan will need their young spinner to swiftly apply what they learned in the Mumbai Indians dressing room to success on the international front, as India has a strong batting lineup.
