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On Friday, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have announced a 17-member squad for the forthcoming One-Day International (ODI) series against Pakistan. The series consisting of three matches will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September. More importantly, it will also be part of the World Cup Super League. Though, the fixtures of the three-match leg haven’t been announced yet.
Afghanistan’s last ODI series came in January earlier this year when they took the challenge of Ireland and won all three matches. Coming back to the Pakistan series, it will be the first project for the newly appointed ODI skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and vice-captain Rahmat Shah.
Former captain Asghar Afghan has not been included in the outfit. His captaincy was taken away after the Ireland series. Veteran all-rounders Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi are part of the squad.
The likes of Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat and Ikram Alikhal have made a comeback into the squad after being left out of Afghanistan’s last ODI leg versus Ireland.
Some domestic stars such as Sediq Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Abdul Rahman have been added to the unit as uncapped players. Furthermore, the selectors have also picked four reserved players – Yousuf Zazai, Saleem Safi, Qais Ahmad and Sharafuddin Ashraf.
The last time both the teams met in an ODI was during the 2019 World Cup in England, in which Pakistan had registered a memorable victory.
Here is Afghanistan’s ODI squad for the Pakistan series:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediq Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Shahid Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmat Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Noor Ahmed, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Reserved Players: Saleem Safi, Yousuf Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad.
