Rashid Khan All Set To Lead Afghanistan At T20 World Cup; ODI Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi Misses Out

Afghanistan bowling allrounder Rashid Khan is all set to lead his country at the T20 World Cup after the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced their squad for the marquee event on Tuesday. They have made some additions to their team compared to the 2022 edition, with Karim Janat, Mohammad Ishaq and Noor Ahmad all named in the squad.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, who led Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup, was not part of the team, his last T20I appearance coming two years back.

Youngster Nangyal Kharoti, who made his international debut for Afghanistan in March against Ireland, finds a place in the team. The 20-year-old impressed in that series with five wickets in three games with an economy of around six.

Another young Afghan player to seal a spot is wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Ishaq, who was part of Afghanistan’s team in the 2020 and 2022 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cups. The squad has just four batters, wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim and Najibullah Zadran and Ishaq, but the presence of six allrounders fills up the gap.

Rashid will lead the spin department with support from Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor, Kharoti and veteran Mohammad Nabi. Besides Rashid, the other allrounders in the Afghanistan squad are Azmatullah Omarzai, Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Janat and Kharoti.

Naveen-ul-Haq, Fareed Ahmad and Fazalhaq Farooqi have retained their spots and make up Afghanistan’s pace bowling lineup. Naveen is the only right-arm pacer among the three.

This will be the first time that Noor, Janat and Ishaq, who featured in the 2020 and 2022 U-19 World Cups, will play at the T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan are in Group C at the marquee event, with two other Test sides, New Zealand and co-hosts West Indies, in their group. They begin their campaign against Uganda on June 4 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

Reserves: Sediq Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Saleem Safi