Rashid rested for Test, to lead T20I team as Afghanistan name squad for Zimbabwe tour

Kabul:  The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Wednesday announced its squads for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour, which includes a historic one-off Test match and a three-match T20I series starting October 20 at the Harare Sports Club.

For the one-off Test, Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the side as Rashid Khan has been rested as a “precaution to prioritise his well-being and sustained performance for the upcoming international events”. He will captain the team in the T20I series.

Left-arm fast bowler Bashir Ahmad, who recently made appearances in ODIs and T20Is for Afghanistan and was also part of the Test squad on the last tour to Zimbabwe, retained his place in the squad.

Fast bowler, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, left-arm spinner Sharafuddin Ashraf, and leg spinner Khalil Gurbaz, who impressed in the domestic red ball season, have been called up for the Test Squad.

In addition, spin-bowling all-rounder Shahidullah Kamal has also been added to both squads that will face Zimbabwe later this month. Moreover, fast-bowler Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Sediqullah Atal, and Shams Ur Rahman have been added to the reserve pool.

Meanwhile, middle-order batter Ijaz Ahmadzai, who made his T20I debut earlier in 2024, makes a comeback to the T20I side. Alongside him, Shahidullah Kamal, who had an impressive SCL season, has been drafted to the T20I squad for the series.

“Alongside our domestic cricket and high-performance center programs, we have been successfully implementing our plans in international cricket. As a result, we are now consistently playing bilateral series one after another, and the outcomes of our long-term efforts have been very positive so far,” CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board Naseeb Khan, said.

He added, “Following the Bangladesh series hosted by ACB, our national team will travel to Zimbabwe, where they will play a Test match and a T20I series against the host nation. Subsequently, we will also play series against other countries in sequence.”

Afghanistan’s Test Squad:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Afsar Zazai (WK), Ikram Alikhel (WK), Bahir Shah, Shahidullah Kamal, Ismat Alam, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Zia Ur Rahman Akbar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Khalil Gurbaz, and Bashir Ahmad.

Reserves: Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Sediqullah Atal, and Shams Ur Rahman

Afghanistan’s T20I Squad:

Rashid Khan (C), Ibrahim Zadran (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Shahidullah Kamal, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bashir Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad Malik and Abdullah Ahmadzai.

Reserves: AM Ghazanfar and Faridoon Dawoodzai

–IANS