The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the national squad for the upcoming one-off Test and three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe. Afghanistan, featuring a number of star players, will play a multi-format match against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club from October 20 to November 2.
Afghanistan and Zimbabwe have faced each other in four Test matches so far, with both teams winning two each. Afghanistan cricket team recently played a white ball series against Bangladesh. They lost the three-match T20I series but bounced back to whitewash the three-match ODI series in Bangladesh.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to lead Afghanistan in one-off Test against Zimbabwe
On Wednesday, 15 October, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the squad for the upcoming one-off Test against Zimbabwe. Hashmatullah Shahidi has been made the captain for the match.
Left-arm fast bowler Bashir Ahmed has retained his place, while Zia ur Rehman Sharifi, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Khalil Gurbaz have earned their maiden call-ups after impressive performances in domestic red-ball cricket. Left arm spinner Shahidullah Kamal has been included in the team.
afghanistan test team: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rehmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Afsar Zazai (wk), Ikram Alikhel (wk), Bahir Shah, Shahidullah Kamal, Ismat Alam, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Zia ur Rehman Akbar, Yameen Ahmedzai, Zia ur Rehman Sharifi, Khalil Gurbaz, and Bashir Ahmed.
store: Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Sediqullah Atal, and Shams ur Rehman
Rashid Khan will lead Afghanistan in T20 series against zimbabwe
Rashid Khan has been rested from the upcoming Test as a precautionary measure to manage his workload and ensure his best performance for future international fixtures. However, the experienced leg spinner will lead the team in the T20 series later this month.
Shahidullah Kamal has also been included after his strong performances in the SCL season, while middle-order batsman Ijaz Ahmedzai returns after making his T20I debut in 2024. AM Ghazanfar and Faridoon Dawoodzai have been named in the reserve pool for the series.
Afghanistan T20 team: Rashid Khan (c), Ibrahim Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Shahidullah Kamal, Ijaz Ahmed Ahmedzai, Azmatullah Umarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmed, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bashir Ahmed, Farid Ahmed Malik, and Abdullah. Ahmedzai.
store: AM Ghazanfar and Faridoon Dawoodzai
We are successfully implementing our plans – Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO
Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Naseeb Khan said the board’s long-term development programs in domestic cricket and high performance centers have helped the national team play consecutive bilateral series with positive results.
“Along with our domestic cricket and High-Performance Center programmes, we are successfully implementing our plans in international cricket. As a result, we are now playing back-to-back bilateral series, and the results of our long-term efforts have been very positive so far,” said Naseeb Khan.
He said, “After the Bangladesh series organized by the ACB, our national team will travel to Zimbabwe, where they will play a Test match and a T20I series against the host country. After this, we will also play series against other countries in sequence.”
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