Afghanistan have named their 15 man squad for the all-important T20 World Cup 2022 with as much as five players from the Asia Cup 2022 facing the axe. Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad, all of whom were a part of the Asia Cup squad have been shown the door, while Mohammad Nabi has been named the skipper of the side after overseeing their Super Fours exit in the continental tourney.
Meanwhile, middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli, all-rounder Qais Ahmad and the right-arm quick Salim Safi have been added to the list.
22-year-old Rasooli, who made his international debut earlier this year, makes the cut after recovering from a finger injury and churning out impressive performances in the Shpageeza Cricket League 2022.
Qais Ahmed returns to the squad, last having played a T20I in March 2022 against Bangladesh, while 20-year-old Safi has secured his maiden international call-up.
Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, and Gulbadin Naib have been named as travelling reserves, while the rest of the squad is made up of familiar names.
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“The Asia Cup was a very good opportunity for the team to buildup things nicely for the much-important global event in Australia,” Chief selector Noor Malikzai said.
“Fortunately, Darwish Rasooli has recovered from injury (broken finger) and we are happy to have him available for the WT20, he has demonstrated good glimpses of him in the previously held Shpageeza Cricket League 2022 and offers an additional batting option to our middle order.
Afghanistan belong to Group 1 in the T20 World Cup and begin their campaign on 22 October against England in Perth. They had a lukewarm campaign last season, having finished fourth in Group 2 with two wins in five matches.
T20 World Cup Squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Ibrahim Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani
Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib
Afghanistan’s schedule:
22 October – Afghanistan v England, Perth
26 October – Afghanistan v New Zealand, Melbourne
28 October – Afghanistan v TBA, Melbourne
01 November – Afghanistan v TBA, Brisbane
04 November – Afghanistan v Australia, Adelaide
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