SA vs AFG: Afghanistan have announced their squad for the ODIs against South Africa, as legendary leg-spinner Rashid Khan makes his comeback to the format for the first time since last November when he appeared for Afghanistan in the World Cup 2023.
The Afghanistan team will miss the services of star mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who is still recovering from the sprain on his index finger. They have also left out another of their lead spinners, Noor Ahmad, as a result of which the ACB has brought in players like off-spinner AM Ghazanfar, who made his debut for the team last March.
Rashid was earlier ruled out of the one-off test against New Zealand as the ACB announced that he would not be allowed to play red-ball cricket until he gets a medical clearance for his impending injury.
The injury in the last CWC had ruled him out of cricket for the next 4 months of cricket, as he kept missing successive tours against Sri Lanka, UAE, and India before having to withdraw from global-level franchise competitions like the Big Bash League, Pakistan Super League, and also the SA20.
Rashid made a return with the Ireland T20Is, as he played only games in the shortest format of the game since he made his comeback from injury. Next, he played in the Indian Premier League, though this time around he underperformed by not having his best of IPL seasons.
He was Afghanistan’s lead spinner, and in the T20 World Cup, he also emerged as their second-highest wicket-taker alongside Fazalhaq Farooqi, who emerged as the competition’s highest wicket-taker, as Afghanistan scripted history with their first-ever entry into the semi-finals of an ICC tournament.
ALSO READ: Former Indian captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly makes a bold claim on India’s upcoming Test fixtures and talks about eyeing a hat-trick of wins in BGT
They defeated the likes of great Australians and made it to the semi-finals for the first time in the history of Afghanistan’s cricket history. However, Rashid faced another blow as he pulled a hamstring playing for the Trent Rockets in The Hundred.
Abdul Malik takes the place of injured opening batter Ibrahim Zadran. While uncapped players like Bilal Sami and also top-order batter Darwish Rasooli. Afghanistan have made it into the Champions Trophy for the first time after they finished 6th in the World Cup.
Afghanistan ODI Squad for Australia: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Nangeyalia Kharote, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad.
