Despite facing New Zealand for the first time in the longer format and the significant gap in experience between the two teams, Rahmat Shah said that he is confident that Afghanistan will provide a strong challenge as well. Playing in Noida, where Afghanistan has previously played six T20Is and five ODIs, helps them with familiarity, said Rahmat, who also added that the team will be keen to seize the limited opportunities in the longer format they get.

“This Test is important. We have got only one Test match against them,” said Rahmat in a chat with Cricbuzz. “We will try to give them a tough time. They have won the ICC Test Championship and we tried to have the best of preparations and we are looking forward to the challenge that is lying ahead. Our past experience in India will help us. We had our home ground in Noida and in Lucknow, and we have played a lot of matches here and done a lot of camps here. We are also accustomed with the weather and pitch conditions of India, so we certainly have an edge.”

However, Rahmat Shah stands out in Afghanistan’s T20-heavy cricket scene as he is the leading run-scorer for his team in Tests and ODIs, and he doesn’t play reckless shots, focusing on preserving his wicket as well.

“I just tried to concentrate more and practice more (to make some technical adjustments). Earlier my shoulder used to get open and I tried to make it sideways and tried to straighter my alignment. When the fast bowler used to come I used to move towards off stump a bit more and as a result I used to fall down. I used to play my shot through my wrist but now I am trying to take my feet and just worked hard to get it (the new technique) into my batting template,” he concluded.

The one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand will take place in Noida begins on September 9.