Rashid Khan, not yet 21 and in his first Test as captain, spun Afghanistan to a memorable win, by 224 runs in Chattogram, and picked up the Man-of-the-Match award too, for his 11 wickets and half-century in the first innings. It was a time to celebrate, but also bid farewell to Mohammad Nabi from Test cricket, a job Rashid did in style by dedicating his match award to "the legend", report Cricinfo.
"He has totally helped me a lot and other spinners a lot as well, since I've been in the side, and still he is with us in the ODIs and T20s, but in the longer format that experience was always great," Rashid said. "I wish him all the best and thanks for all your service for the country. I want to dedicate this Man of the Match to Nabi."
While Nabi played his part with the ball in the Test, the performance from seniors and newcomers alike was heartening for Afghanistan, who have now won two of their three Test matches since becoming a Test-playing country. Asghar Afghan, the former captain, hit twin half-centuries, while Ibrahim Zadran, on debut, scored 21 and 87, and Qais Ahmed and Zahir Khan, both debutant spinners, held their own.
"Thanks to the almighty Allah for this performance, under my captaincy we won this game against a big side like Bangladesh. We are new in this format, so the credit goes to the coaching staff [and] the players the way they prepared for this game," Rashid gushed. "Before coming here, we had a camp in Abu Dhabi, that was one of the hottest games I have ever had. After playing in 46-47 [degrees], when you come in this weather, it is very easy for you.
"The plan which was given to the players, each and every one - batting, bowling, fielding - everyone just tried and applied himself.
The only thing from my side was to keep going out, keep enjoying yourself, enjoy your batting, enjoy your bowling. Much credit goes to everyone in the batting, and the bowlers, the way we did the job.”
