India set to host war-ravaged Afghanistan in historic one-off Test

The historic one-off test between India and Afghanistan will commence on June 14 and the craze for the match is already at its peak.

Afghanistan - which received the test playing nation status last June - will play their inaugural game at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Ireland was another country which joined the ranks of full member nations of the International Cricket Council, taking the total number of Test-playing countries to 12.

The Indian cricket board, BCCI, has consistently backed Afghanistan, who played a home match against Ireland last year at a stadium in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

The Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground is also known as Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex. 

The stadium became the home ground for the Afghanistan cricket team after they decided to shift their home ground from Sharjah, UAE.

As per reports, Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will be the chief guest at the inaugural match, to further strengthen the increasing ties between the two countries.  

Afghan cricket grew out of the refugee camps in Pakistan where many families were based after they fled the Afghan conflict in the 1980s and 1990s.

Now the country is producing world-beaters like 19-year-old spinner Rashid Khan.  

In March, the teenager became the fastest bowler to reach 100 one-day international wickets. He is currently ranked as the world's top-ranked Twenty20 bowler.

Khan was also one of a handful of Afghan players in this year's Indian Premier League and proved to be one of the most dangerous bowlers. 

He took 21 wickets for runners-up Kane Williamson-led Hyderabad, who paid 9 crores for his services.

As the country continues to make inroads into the world of cricket, the men’s team has progressed from being a disorganised band of reckless hitters of the ball in the early 2000s to a well-balanced team.

On the other hand, Pakistan, which has been demanding bilateral cricket with India, continues to exploit the ties by funding terror attacks on borders. 

India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket since 2012 due to political tensions between the two neighbours.

Afghanistan have come a long way since making its World T20 debut in 2010. They are ranked ninth in the shortest format and 11th in the 50-over format.

After featuring regularly in the World T20, the Afghans made the 50-over World Cup debut in 2015.

They played six games in the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand with their sole win coming against Scotland.

Meanwhile, the stand-in India skipper Ajinkya Rahane has also made it clear that they will not take debutants Afghanistan lightly when the two teams lock horns on Thursday.