In preparation for this year’s World Cup, which will be held in India, Afghanistan selected a squad on Monday that is loaded with spin spinners for the one-day series that will take place in Sri Lanka the following month.
On the Sri Lanka trip, the renowned spinner Rashid Khan and the seasoned spinning allrounder Mohammad Nabi will have Mujeeb Ur Rahman and the up-and-coming Noor Ahmad as their supporting cast members.
In addition, the quintet is scheduled to play a significant part in Afghanistan’s World Cup campaign, which will take place in October and November of this year.
“We have selected a strong squad and it’s good to have a couple of young faces for the series with an aim to build up for the ICC Cricket World Cup,” said the head of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Mirwais Ashraf. “The series has an aim to build up for the ICC Cricket World Cup.”
“We are looking for every possible opportunity to build a good combination of the team,” he stated in a statement earlier today.
On Afghanistan’s next trip of Sri Lanka, Hashmatullah Shahidi will serve as the team’s captain. The country’s matches in Sri Lanka will take place in Hambantota on June 2, June 4, and June 7.
Abdul Rahman, a talented medium fast bowler who is 21 years old and has never been capped but who has lately done well at the domestic level, is also a member of the squad.
Gulbadin Naib, an all-rounder who captained Afghanistan in the last World Cup, which took place in England four years ago, is one of the four reserves.
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Ahmad Malik
Reserves: Gulbadin Naib, Shahidullah Kamal, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia ur Rahman Akbar