The captain of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Rashid Khan has made his comeback to the T20I side of the team as the Afghanistan Cricket Board(ACB) has announced their 16-player squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh. The all-rounder was not part of the team when Afghanistan played a one-off Test Match against Bangladesh.
The star wicket-keeper of the team, Mohammad Shahzad who has been out of action for some time has been added to the squad along with left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai.
Afghanistan will commence their Bangladesh tour on July 5 with the three-match ODI Series. The match will be played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram. The last match of this ODI Series will be played on July 11 and then they will head towards the two-match ODI series which will start on July 14 at Sylhet District Stadium.
The chief selector of the Afghanistan Cricket Board Asadullah Khan has said that Shahzad has been added to the squad looking at his recent form in domestic cricket. He added that they want to give an equal chance to everyone before the 2024 T20I world cup to be hosted by the USA and West Indies.
While talking to Cricbuzz, Khan said, “We brought Shahzad as we feel that we should have an attacking batter as a backup for the opening slot because anything can happen in cricket. He is currently the best option and he also performed very well in the domestic tournament. He shows that he is ready for T20Is and we are starting the process now for the next T20 World Cup. We will see the players in typical roles and later we will decide.”
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Afghanistan Squad for T20I series vs Bangladesh:
Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Shehzad, Wafadar Momand, Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq
