Rashid Khan of Afghanistan. Photo- ACB
Rashid Khan of Afghanistan. Photo- ACB

Rashid Khan, the ace spinner, was ignored as the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the preliminary squad for the upcoming one-off Test against New Zealand. This encounter will be played in Greater Noida, India from September 9-13.

Afghanistan last played a Test match in February this year against Ireland and lost the game. Meanwhile, the ACB has announced a 20-member preliminary squad for the match. The squad will be trimmed to 15 members.

Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the Chief Selector said, “20 players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness.”

Hashmatullah Shahidi has been named team captain, while Rashid Khan, under whom Afghanistan won their first-ever Test was ignored.

Afghanistan squad to have a preparatory camp before New Zealand Test

Meanwhile, the ACB selector also revealed that the 20-member squad will leave for India on August 28 and attend a one-week preparation camp in Greater Noida. Afghanistan’s reputation as a Test cricketing nation is growing with each game they play.

Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Naveen-Ul-Haq are not part of the Test squad. The squad included well-known players such as Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmad Malik, and Qais Ahmed.

ACB Chairman Mr. Mirwais Ashraf: “I am happy to see some youngsters in the squad who performed well in domestic cricket and have gotten the opportunity to be part of the test squad for this test match.” He further added that ACB is delighted to be embarking on its maiden bilateral event with New Zealand which is a quality side in test cricket and looks forward to a competitive event between black caps and Afghan Atalan.”

It is worth noting that before the 9th edition of the Shpageeza Cricket League, these players underwent a full-fledged preparatory camp in Nangarhar province, which has similar conditions to India.”

Afghanistan preliminary squad includes the following players:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad and Yama Arab.

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