Naveen-ul-Haq makes his return to the ODI side while Gulbadin Naib is demoted to the reserves for the World Cup 2023. (Image: AFP)
Afghanistan have announced their squad for the World Cup and have taken some interesting calls like putting their former skipper, Gulbadin Naib in the reserves.
Afghanistan have announced their squad for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup hosted by India. There are some surprising decisions made by the management.
Naveen-ul-Haq is set to make a comeback to the squad after sustaining a knee injury. His addition to the squad will bolster the pace attack of the Afghanistan bowling attack. However, one of the interesting decisions taken by the management was the demotion of former Afghanistan skipper, Gulbadin Naib to the reserves. Naib was the skipper of the Afghanistan side in the previous edition of the ODI World Cup in England, in 2019. He was also not part of the Afghanistan side that played a three-match ODI series against Pakistan. But he was still in the playing 11 in the Asia Cup.
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Hashmatullah Shahidi is set to lead the side and will have the experience of Mohammed Nabi and the ace-spinner Rashid Khan by his side. Although Rashid has not looked the same in the ODI format. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is set to become the primary wicket-keeper for the side. Their bowling attack includes the likes of Rashid Khan who is leading the spin department along with, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Noor Ahmed, and the experienced Mohammed Nabi. The pace-attack consists of Naveen-ul-Haq along with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai.
Afghanistan have endured a tough period in the Asia Cup, in 2023, after not being able to secure a single win in the entire tournament. They had come close to a win against defending champions, Sri Lanka but miscalculations from the management led to their eventual defeat. Afghanistan had the chance to secure the win, with the game being reduced due to rains and the Duckworth-Lewis method coming into play. But due to the miscalculations the Afghanistan batting order eventually crumbled thereby conceding a defeat and losing their chance to qualify into the Super 4 stage of the tournament. The side did have positives during their ODI series against Pakistan before the Asia Cup where the side managed to come close to victory. The side will hope to bring those positives into the tournament and make their moments count as they look to secure their first victory in a World Cup game.
The Afghanistan side will commence their World Cup campaign as they face Bangladesh in the third match of the tournament which is held in Dharamsala. The side will hope to improve on their previous campaign as they were not able to bring up a single win in the tournament as all nine sides managed to defeat them.
Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil,Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-Ul-Haq
Reserves: Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad