Onus is with ICC: Pybus on more Test opportunities for Afghanistan

Richard Pybus believes Afghanistan's future in Test cricket depends on one thing above all else: opportunities.

Afghanistan made their Test debut against India in Bengaluru in June 2018. In the eight years since, they have played only 12 matches in the format, with their most recent appearance coming against Zimbabwe in October 2025. Ahead of his first assignment as Afghanistan head coach, Pybus said securing a fuller fixture list remains the team's biggest challenge.

"Our challenge now in Test cricket is number one: getting fixtures," Pybus said on the eve of Afghanistan's one-off Test against India. "We've got one Test now, (the important thing) is to get fixtures so we can continue to evolve as a side."

The issue resurfaced repeatedly throughout his first pre-match press conference as Afghanistan coach, with Pybus insisting that the responsibility for addressing it lay beyond the team itself.

"I think the onus is with the ICC," he said. "When a country gets granted full membership, it's one thing to get full membership, but then we need to get a full fixture list. And it can't be that the development historically of teams is just based on what the exposure we get at World Cups. I don't think anybody could have conceived 20 years ago where Afghanistan cricket would be now.

"I think credit to the BCCI. They've given us plenty of cricket this year, which is fantastic for us to be able to develop. I'd like to see, going forward, the other senior Full Members also start to build out the list. I think that when you look historically at the development of the game, there are countries around the world whose development was very slow because they just couldn't get enough games. We need to move past that."

Pybus, who took charge after Jonathan Trott's largely successful stint with Afghanistan, said his initial weeks in the role had been about understanding the players and the system.

"This is my first match in charge," Pybus said. "I've been out to Kabul a couple of times meeting the administration, meeting the players. I've had a couple of weeks now watching the one-day competition.

"I've been very impressed watching the quality of the first-class cricket. I usually benchmark that relative to seeing other first-class cricket around the world. So this is the first match of this period. It's really just been about getting to know the players, understanding the players, developing relationships."

Pybus was also quick to acknowledge the work done by Trott, under whom Afghanistan continued their rise in international cricket.

"You all will have seen the development of the Afghan side. It's been quite incredible over a very short period of time," Pybus said. "I think there's good foundations in place. I think Jonathan did an outstanding job over four years.

"And just build, really, continue to build on what is already in place. We've seen from the white-ball sides how exciting they are and the quality of the players."

Among the things that stood out most to Pybus during his visits to Afghanistan was the country's passion for the game. A drive from Kabul to Jalalabad offered a glimpse into the environment that has produced a generation of international cricketers despite limited resources.

"It's the first time I've ever seen it," Pybus said. "They don't have cricket fields, they have cricket grounds and the ground is made of stone, the boundary is made out of stone and the pitch is a concrete slab in the middle. So the kids are out there with the adults and they're just playing. You just see the passion for the game and it's not deterred by the fact that there isn't a blade of grass in sight.

"And you would have seen over time the quality of the cricket that has been produced from this. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I don't know if I would have believed it. But the passion is absolutely unbelievable. Afghanistan now has got some really serious world stars, not just national stars. That bodes really well because those kids are going to dream."

For now, Afghanistan's immediate focus is the challenge of facing India, but Pybus returned to the broader issue of Test opportunities when discussing the team's long-term prospects.

"To play one Test and have a four or five-month break before you play your next Test match, whatever you're going to learn, there needs to be a concentration of learning," he said. "If we're playing a three-Test series, you can back that up, Test after Test after Test. If you're playing five Tests, that's even better. So that is the challenge. That's not an Afghanistan question, that's an ICC question."