Having observed Rohit Sharma pretty closely during his stint with the Mumbai Indians, Afghanistan’s rising spin star AM Ghazanfar wants to put those learnings when he takes on the Indian team in the upcoming ODI series. The 19-year-old off-spinner, regarded as one of Afghanistan’s brightest players, said that bowling to Rohit regularly during IPL training sessions gave him a rare opportunity to understand the nuances of the challenge while facing them as well.
“Rohit bhai is a legend and a very good player. He opens the batting and we bowl with the new ball. Whatever we have learnt from him, Inshallah, we will try to use it to our advantage and see what happens,” Ghazanfar said during an interaction with a select group of media persons ahead of the ODI series.
“Once when I was batting, he gave me some tips. I really appreciated that and I am thankful to him,” he again said.
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Ghazanfar’s time with the Mumbai Indians during the recently-concluded IPL season showed him to some of the finest cricketers in the game, including Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. He also said the experience of sharing a dressing room with established international stars has significantly helped his development.
“In the IPL, you get the absolute best of both worlds — very good players and excellent coaching. Playing matches with them and sharing the dressing room helped me learn a lot. Cricket is a game of constant learning and I want to keep learning even more in the future,” he said.
“The IPL was very good for us. It is very hot here and we have adjusted to the conditions. Before coming here, our team had a month-long camp in Kabul. We have already adapted to the pitches and weather and the players are feeling energetic,” he said. “There are a lot more talented players in Afghanistan now. It is difficult to reach international cricket, leagues and franchise cricket directly from domestic cricket, but belief, preparation and working on your skills can make things easier.”
“Our role model was the Afghanistan team. We all used to watch our national team when we were growing up,” he concluded.
