Afghanistan will travel to Bangladesh for the full-fledged series. The tour consists of an only Test match, two T20Is and three ODIs. On Wednesday, Afghanistan announced their fifteen-member squad for an upcoming Test. Notably, Bangladesh annouced their 15- member squad a couple of days ago.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will captain the Afghan team. The squad features aspiring names like Ibrahim Zadran, Afsar Zazai and Hamza Kotak. However, superstar Rashid Khan has not been picked in the Test side. The 24-year-old has sustained a lower back injury and, theremore, missed the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka as well.
Fast bowling duo of Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Nijat Masoud and the young leg-spinner Izharulhaq Naweed have also been added to the 15-man squad. Karim Janat, who put on an incredible all-round performance in the recently-held Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament, has received his maiden called up to the national team.
Afghanistan squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Afsar Zazai (WK), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Zahir Khan, Izharulhaq Naweed, Hamza Hotak, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Yamin Ahmadzai and Nijat Masoud.
Zia ur Rahman Akbar, Noor Ali Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai and Sayed Ahmad Shirzad are part of the reserve players for the tour.
Here's AfghanAtalan's lineup for the one-off test against Bangladesh 🤩#AfghanAtalan | #BANvAFG2023 pic.twitter.com/c8QzvcWG3F
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) June 7, 2023
Afghanistan are among the new Test-playing nations in the world, along with Ireland. They made their Test debut in 2018 against India and have played only six red-ball games. Out of six, Rashid has not played only once. Afghanistan’s previous Test match came back in the year 2021 against Zimbabwe.
