Afghanistan vs West Indies 2019: 3 players to watch out for in the one-off Test

After defeating West Indies in the T20I series, Afghanistan will battle them in the longest format of the game from tomorrow at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Because of the problems prevailing in Afghanistan, they have adopted India as their home venue for cricket matches. And they have given a good account of themselves in their adopted home.

The Afghans had kicked off their Test journey against India last year, and although they suffered an innings defeat in that match, they have bounced back very well since then. Afghanistan have defeated Ireland and Bangladesh in their last two matches, and would be hoping to continue in the same vein going forward.

On the other hand, West Indies were whitewashed by India in their World Test Championship opener. The men from the Caribbean islands will be desperate to get back to winning ways in red-ball cricket against a team that is fairly weak on paper.

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On that note, here are the three players to watch out for in the only Test match between Afghanistan and West Indies.

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#3 Roston Chase

Roston Chase scored a fifty in the practice match

The 27-year-old Caribbean all-rounder Roston Chase has troubled Afghanistan with his all-round skills on this tour. He took 2/31 and scored 94 runs in the first ODI against the hosts, and followed that up with a three-wicket haul in the next match.

West Indies would bank on Chase to continue troubling the Afghan batsmen with his crafty spin bowling. He will also have the onus of scoring runs with the bat.

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#2 Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan will captain Afghanistan

The young captain of the home side, Rashid Khan had been the wrecker-in-chief for his team against Bangladesh. The leg-spinner scalped 11 wickets in the Test, while also scoring a fifty in the first innings, to guide Afghanistan to a historic win.

The 21-year-old all-rounder did not bowl a single over in the recently concluded practice match. He has enjoyed very little success in the limited overs series against the Men in Maroon, but he will look to make up for that with a solid performance in the Test.

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#1 Jason Holder

Jason Holder can be a match-winner for West Indies

The West Indian captain Jason Holder has been one of the best all-rounders in Test cricket lately. The Barbados-born player has played 39 matches for his nation, aggregating 1,887 and scalping 101 wickets. He is one of the very few players in the world to have taken a 10-wicket match haul and scored a double hundred in Tests.

However, just like his counterpart Rashid, Holder has not been able to make a big impact on the tour so far. The skipper will look to end the assignment on a high by pushing the Afghans on to the backfoot and taking West Indies to their first Test win since February 2019.