Afghanistan have better spinners than India, says captain Asghar Stanikzai

New Delhi, June 10: His team might be lacking the experience of the longer format but Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai isn't afraid of making bold statements and playing mind games ahead of their debut Test against India.

India - the no. 1 Test side - comprise Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who are ranked No. 4 and 5 among the world's Test bowlers but the Afghani skipper has claimed his spinners are far better than their Indian counterparts.

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"In my opinion, we have good spinners, better spinners than India," Stanikzai was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

"The whole world knows that [we have very good spinners in] Rashid Khan, Mujeeb [Ur Rahman], [Mohammad] Nabi, Rahmat [Shah], Zahir [Khan]," Stanikzai told.

"In Afghanistan, the brilliant thing is that a lot of the young talent that is coming through are spinners because they all follow Rashid, they follow Nabi, so because of that our spin department is very strong from below.

The Afghanistan Test squad boasts of a variety of legspinners Rashid, Mujeeb and Nabi who have earned them recognition in T20 leagues around the world. Afghanistan recently defeated Bangladesh 3-0 in the bilateral T20I series in which Rashid starred.

As per wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad, these spinners would help Afghanistan give India a tough time in Bengaluru. Citing the example of Ireland, who gave Pakistan a scare in their debut Test, the wicketkeeper-batsman said that his team is capable of doing an upset.

"It can definitely happen," Shahzad said. "You know what our spinners have been doing of late. Ireland played their [first Test] match against Pakistan, in Ireland's conditions, and gave them a tough time. We are coming here and playing in India's conditions, and that too against a team that plays spin very well. We will have a tough time, for us and for them too. It won't be easy for either team. It will be a good match, Inshallah."

"Not just India, but even if you look at the whole world, our Rashid Khan is the No. 1 spinner," Shahzad said. "You can match him up against any bowler, and you'll say, 'yes, he's better than him', or 'he's as good as him'.

"Mujeeb, Rashid, Nabi we also have Zahir Khan, who didn't get to play for Rajasthan [Royals], but he's also one such bowler - you'll see next year [in the IPL], so Alhamdulillah we have very good spinners," added Shahzad.

Earlier Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons claimed his lack of experience will not stand in Rashid Khan's road to success in the longest format as he has a "30-year-old mind in a 19-year-old body".

"Rashid is all of 19 but he has got the mind of a 30-year-old. He knows exactly what is expected of him. But yes, Mujeeb (17 years) is younger but we will have to see how he copes up with it," Simmons said.