On Tuesday (20th August), Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the men’s Test and T20I squads for the upcoming Bangladesh tour. Rashid Khan will lead both these sides.
In this tour, the Afghanistan national cricket team will play one Test against the hosts and a T20I tri-series. Apart from Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Zimbabwe will also take part in the T20I tri-series.
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Afghanistan will begin this tour with the one-off Test. Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chittagong) will host the Test match that will start on 5th September 2019. As Afghanistan is not in the part of 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship, this Test will not be counted in this programme. It will be the third Test experience for Afghanistan and also the first Test against Bangladesh.
Ahead of the Test series, Afghanistan will play a two-day tour game against BCB XI at M. A. Aziz Stadium (Chittagong) from 1st September 2019.
After the Test match, Afghanistan will play the T20I tri-series from 13th September to 24th September 2019.
Rashid Khan will captain in Test and T20I series
ACB selectors have announced 15-member Test squad and 17-member T20I squad for this tour. The 20-year-old Rashid Khan will play the captaincy role in this entire tour.
The 32-year-old tall left-arm pacer Shapoor Zadran has earned his maiden Test call-up. Since Afghanistan’s early period in international cricket, Shapoor has played a vital role in this side.
Including the suspended wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad, a total of five players have been dropped from Afghanistan’s last Test squad against Ireland in this February.
Young off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has missed out the Test squad. However, he has maintained his position in the T20I team.
Afghanistan’s captain in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, Gulbadin Naib is in the T20I squad, but he is not in the Test squad.
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Afghanistan’s entire squads for the Bangladesh tour
Test squad: Rashid Khan (c), Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Ihsanullah, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Zahir Khan, Javed Ahmadi, Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Afsar Zazai (wk), Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmad
T20I squad: Rashid Khan (c), Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Hazratullah Zazai, Najeeb Tarakai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Najibullah Zadran, Shahidullah, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Fareed Ahmad, Shafiqullah, Fazal Niazai, Dawlat Zadran, Naveen-ul-Haq, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)
Afghanistan tour of Bangladesh 2019 full schedule
(Two-day Tour match)
1st-2nd September 2019: BCB XI vs Afghanistan – M. A. Aziz Stadium (Chittagong)
(One-off Test)
5th-9th September 2019: Only Test – Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chittagong)
(T20I tri-series full schedule)
13th September 2019: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe – Shere-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (Dhaka)
14th September 2019: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe – Shere-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (Dhaka)
15th September 2019: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan – Shere-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (Dhaka)
18th September 2019: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe – Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chittagong)
20th September 2019: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe – Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chittagong)
21st September 2019: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan – Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Chittagong)
24th September 2019: Final – Shere-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (Dhaka)