Stanikzai plays the willing cradle to Afghanistan's high spirits

Their boisterous exterior is used to smile away any of their troubles. Afghanistan's journey to Test cricket has hardly been a rosy journey. But the team offers no indication of the trouble back home. They don't shy away from enjoying their cricket, and certainly don't shy away from making exaggerated comments off it. They are now a team well known in white-ball cricket for having charismatic cricketers rivaling even the West Indies.

Be it Rashid Khan's aggression on the field or Mohammad Shahzad's exuberance. The latter also symbolizes everything about the joy they have. He cannot stop being an entertainer with the bat or his mouth. He is expected to play a key part in their Test debut, with a first-class batting average of 54.55. He promises to cut out the helicopter shot in Test cricket but that's the maximum extent that Shahzad would probably tone his game down to the requirements of Test cricket. For them to be successful, there needs to be another cut from a different cloth. The man leading them -