Afghanistan Cricket Team is set to be ready for a three match ODI series against South Africa, starting from September 18 in Sharjah. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced the squad for the three-match ODI series.
The senior players with the likes of Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi have retained their places in the squad. The leg-spinner, Rashid Khan is back in the squad after he missed out of the ODI series against Ireland and the sole Test against New Zealand.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ibrahim Zadran are not present in the squad. Rahman is still nursing his right phalanx sprain while Zadran is still nursing his ankle sprain on his left leg. Abdul Malik and Darwish Rasooli are picked as the replacements in the squad.
Afghanistan Chief selector announced the squad for the ODI series against South Africa
Here is what the chief selector of the Afghanistan Cricket Team, Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil said:
“Mujeeb Ur Rahman continues to recover from his injury and is unavailable for selection. Ibrahim Zadran will also miss the South Africa ODIs for twisting his ankle on the edge of the New Zealand Test. However, we have included some of the top-performing youngsters in Abdul Malik and Darwish Rasooli. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar is also a talented cricketer and has demonstrated excellent skills recently and will cover for Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the series.”
The addition of Rashid Khan will definitely strengthen the team as he is a world class spinners and definitely the leader of the bowling attack for the Afghanistan team. His experience and qualities will support the attack against a strong side like South Africa.
Afghanistan ODI squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik.