Rashid Khan ready for ‘Test of patience’

Dehradun (PTI): The crown prince of cricket's slam-bang version, Afghanistan star Rashid Khan says he is prepared for the "test of patience" that awaits him in the country's five-day debut against India, where all he wants is to keep the jangling nerves at bay.

The historic Test against the world No.1 side, which would be without talismanic skipper Virat Kohli, starts June 14 in Bengaluru.

"Being a Test cricketer is not a lot different to playing ODIs and T20s," the 19-year-old Rashid, the world's No.1 T20 bowler, told PTI in an interview here.

And since he doesn't see much of difference, Rashid said he won't be tweaking his style of bowling at all. "I have done well in whatever four-day opportunities that I have got.

If I make changes in my bowling thinking about the Test, it will not be good for me. I will bowl with the same speed I have been bowling so far," he said. "I have to make sure that I don't panic.

I know there will be a phase where I won't pick up a wicket for 20 overs. And I could pick up two in two overs. It is Test cricket," he explained. "It is going to be a test of patience.

There is a possibility that I might end up being wicketless," he conceded. Rashid hasn't been home for a year and lost a friend to one of Afghanistan's several terror attacks quite recently but is determined to be in the best possible frame of mind on the field for the sake of his "troubled people".

"I have not gone home in a year. I miss my family and friends a lot. ?It also hurts a lot to hear about blasts back home.

Even in the IPL (for Sunrisers Hyderabad) when there was a blast in my hometown, I was really upset. I lost a friend in that," he said.