The poster boy of Afghanistan cricket, Rashid Khan, will not play the Test format soon as he needs time to heal from his back after going through surgery last year. A source from Afghanistan Cricket Board told PTI that Rashid and team management have taken this break mutually due to his back problems. Earlier this week he was not named in the preliminary squad for one-off Test match against New Zealand at Greater Noida starting on September 9th.
After undergoing a surgery related to his back after the ODI World Cup in India during October-November, Rashid had been out of action for four months. Most recently he was part of T20 Word Cup held in USA and() Caribbean where he led Afghanistan to semi-finals.
The Shpageeza T20 league held three consecutive matches in a row day after day this month where this 25-year-old managed to take six wickets altogether.
“After the surgery, Rashid was supposed to gradually increase his work load. Apart from this, not playing in longer format for next six months to one year was also part of the plan.”
“In Tests, he has to bowl from one end and at present it is difficult for his back to take on that much of a work load,” said the source adding that he is expected to be fit for next month’s ODI series against South Africa.”
Rashid has played only five Tests, 103 ODIs and 93 T20Is with Afghanistan, who is seldomly granted the five-day match against top teams like New Zealand.
He had also suffered a hamstring injury during The Hundred event in the UK earlier on this month.
The Afghan cricket team is now in Greater Noida, their home ground, and are already getting ready for the Test against New Zealand.
If all goes well, Rashid will participate in the 3 ODIs against South Africa starting September 18 in UAE, which is the first ever bilateral series that has taken place between these two countries.
