Andrew Balbirnie: Looks a pretty good wicket, might spin towards the back end. It gives us a chance to play with freedom, need to do something special and put our best foot forward.

Hashmatullah Shahidi: We want to bat first, the wicket looks good. Expecting it to spin on the last day. Excited about it, has been a fantastic journey. We have two changes. Janat comes in and Gurbaz makes his debut.

Pitch report: It looks a good surface, looks dry underneath. It's going to be a steady paced surface. All the moisture has been taken out and it has been rolled beautifully. As a batter you need to respect the new ball as the ball will nibble around. You can cash in later in the afternoon, reckons Niall O'Brien.

Teams:

Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling(c), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Moor, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Theo van Woerkom

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Rahmat Shah, Noor Ali Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Zia-ur-Rehman, Nijat Masood, Naveed Zadran, Zahir Khan

Afghanistan have won the toss and have opted to bat

On the other hand, Ireland last played in this format a long time back, hence even they will need some time to adapt to the longer format, that too in alien conditions. Without the services of Rashid Khan, the Afghan bowling line-up looks inexperienced, hence you can probably expect a close contest between these two teams. The game was initially supposed to be played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, but will now instead be played at the Tolerance Oval - a venue that is adjacent to the bigger ground. Stay around for the toss and teams..

09:00 Local Time, 05:00 GMT, 10:30 IST: It’s not often that you see Afghanistan and Ireland playing the longest format. When you do, it’s mostly a one-off Test, irrespective of the opponents they usually play against. Hello and welcome to our live coverage of this only Test between Afghanistan and Ireland. Of course, there will be three ODIs and three T20Is over the next two and a half weeks as well. Afghanistan recently toured Sri Lanka where they were beaten comprehensively by the hosts across all formats, barring the final T20I of that particular tour. They failed to put up a fight as the visitors lost the Test against Sri Lanka by 10 wickets, hence they will be looking forward to making an impact against Ireland starting today.

Squads:

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Rahmat Shah, Noor Ali Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Bahir Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Karim Janat, Nijat Masood, Zahir Khan, Naveed Zadran, Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Khalil Gurbaz

Ireland Squad: Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), Andrew Balbirnie(c), James McCollum, Peter Moor, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Craig Young, Barry McCarthy, Graham Hume, Matthew Foster, Theo van Woerkom