Watch cricket video highlights of Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe 2024. 1st Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Venue of the match will be Bulawayo.
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Typically, Bulawayo provides dry pitch conditions. Although the surface mostly favors fast bowlers and subsequently supports spinners, the fast bowlers may play a larger role over the course of the five days due to the predicted gloomy conditions. All five days are expected to see rain, with the second and third sessions seeing the most. Is it possible for 18-year-old AM Ghazanfar to immediately enter the Test XI? Despite being a late arrival to the team and having no first-class cricket experience.
Ghazanfar is an intriguing potential for all forms of cricket given his T20 average of 11.62 and ODI average of 13.57. In T20 leagues throughout the globe, he has been the talk of the season. In his past two ODIs, he wove a web around Zimbabwe with figures of 3 for 9 and 5 for 33. A spinner who can run past opponents is a lethal weapon in this Test, since teams will probably be racing against time. Ben Curran, a possible debutant, might be the one to calm the wobble as Zimbabwe has been searching for someone to hang down one spot in their top order for a long time.
The Logan Cup’s top run scorer this season, left-hander Curran, the son of former Zimbabwean player Kevin Curran and the middle brother of England internationals Tom and Sam, has been awarded for his 74.14 average in seven innings, which includes two hundreds and two fifties. With scores of 12, 0, and 15 in the three ODIs against Afghanistan, he has had a challenging start to his international career. For Test cricket fans, the last week of the year is like a Roman feast, and this year’s Boxing Day offers tantalizing matches in Melbourne and Centurion.
But will you also take a look? A fierce battle is anticipated between two sides that, despite their recent lackluster results, would seem like favorites when Bulawayo hosts Zimbabwe’s first Boxing Day Test in 28 years. Afghanistan is the unexpected opponent. After all, no team has ever won a Test against the other. However, that was in 2021. They haven’t been able to triumph since. And based on their respective teams for this two-Test series, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan appear to be trying to change that by choosing a different course for 2025 and beyond.
There will likely be a large number of Test debutants—up to 15 debuts between the two XIs, in theory—and this series may be the one that gives birth to a new generation. However, the seasoned heads will continue to know the secrets of success. Rashid Khan has withdrawn from the opening Test owing to personal reasons, although Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Blessing Muzarabani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Rahmat Shah will all be there.
After he recovered from his injury, he initially declared himself eligible for both Test matches; but, late on Tuesday, adolescent spinner AM Ghazanfar was recruited to the team to cover for him. Unfortunately, the weather has the ability to steal all of the headlines. Although some activity is predicted every day amid forecasts of rain and thunderstorms every afternoon, this match might travel to same terrain as Afghanistan’s previous meeting in Greater Noida, which washed out without the toss.
