On Thursday (27th June), Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has named Sayed Shirzad as the replacement of Aftab Alam for the remainder of the ongoing Cricket World Cup. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Event Technical Committee has given a green signal on this replacement.
However, the ACB hasn’t clarified the reason for this sudden replacement. According to the media release, this replacement has happened “under exceptional circumstances”.
Earlier, in the ongoing Cricket World Cup, youngster Ikram Ali Khil replaced the injured senior wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad. However, later, Shahzad claimed that he was fit enough to play in this tournament. Now, ACB has taken another decision on Aftab Alam.
Aftab Alam played three matches in 2019 CWC
The 26-year-old Afghanistan pacer Aftab Alam played three matches in the ongoing 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The right-arm pacer took four wickets in this tournament along with an average of 28.75 and economy rate of 5.70. His best bowling figures in this tournament was 3/45 against New Zealand at Taunton.
Sayed Shirzad is a talented pacer
On the other hand, Sayed Shirzad is a 24-year-old left-arm medium pacer. He made his T20I debut in November 2015 and has played four T20Is till the date. Shirzad made his ODI debut in last March and hasn’t played another ODI yet. The left-arm medium pacer hasn’t taken a wicket in ODI but has picked up seven T20I wickets (average 16.57).
Shirzad featured in the 2012 and 2014 ICC U19 Cricket World Cups. In the 2012 edition, Shirzad was the leading wicket-taker for Afghanistan U19 side after taking 11 wickets in six matches.
In last year, Shirzad managed national team call-ups for the multiple times. He was even in Afghanistan’s squad for their inaugural Test match against India, Asia Cup 2018 etc. However, he didn’t play an international match in that year.
However, Shirzad featured in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (2018/19) where he played for Kandahar Knights. While his team finished at the last position in that tournament, he finished as the second most wicket-taker in that tournament. He took 16 wickets in eight matches of that tournament (average 15.25).
Afghanistan is struggling in the ongoing 2019 CWC
Currently, the Afghanistan national cricket team is struggling in the ongoing Cricket World Cup. They have suffered defeats in all the seven matches which they have played in this tournament. Out of those matches, Afghanistan impressed with their performances against Sri Lanka and India.
Afghanistan has to play two more matches in this tournament. On 29th June, Afghanistan will face Pakistan at Leeds. Later on 4th July, Afghanistan will play against Windies (at Leeds) which will also be their last game of this tournament.