India vs Afghanistan: Why Afghanistan spinners performed below expectations

#2 Improper field placement

The field placements by the Afghan skipper Stanikzai for his spinners was very poor. Very little protection in the deep was given to the spinners. Vijay and Dhawan were able to easily clear the in-field.

This made the bowlers ball the line which the batsmen wanted and in this process, Vijay and Dhawan negated Afghanistan's main weapon. When Rashid Khan was bowling the leg-stump line to the right-handers, he was not provided with a mid-wicket and hence the batsmen would just flick the ball to the boundary. Also for Dhawan, there was no fielder on the boundary on the off-side for the spinners.

Stanikzai should introspect on his performance and not repeat the same error in the next match. Bowlers should also not be bystanders and tell the captain which field they want. They should also clearly tell him which line and length they wish to bowl to the batsmen.