Kabul: The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced the squad for the one-Test and three-match ODI series against India. But there is a big surprise in this squad. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced the squad for the Test, which does not include the country’s biggest star cricketer. Rashid Khan has not been included in the squad announced against India in red ball format. Notably, Hasmatullah Shahidi will lead the announced Afghan squad for both formats.
current IPL India-Afghanistan is followed by a Test and a three-match ODI series. It is believed that one of the reasons behind Rashid Khan’s exclusion from the Test team could be the workload issue. Rashid underwent a surgery after the 2023 World Cup. After that Rashid was advised by the medical team to stay away from the long format. However, Rashid Khan is in the announced team for the ODI format. Rashid Khan’s absence from the Test squad could be another reason. This Test is not part of the World Test Championship cycle. So no points will be added to this test. So Rashid may not play in this match as it is less important. However, apart from the star all-rounder, Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai are in the Test squad. Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan are in the announced Afghan team for the ODI series.
Afghanistan squad announced for Test against India: Hasmatullah Shahidi (Captain), Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmanullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nongyal Kharotai, Quais Ahmad, Bilal Shami, Zia Sharifi, Salim Safi.
Afghanistan squad announced for ODI series against India: Hasmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwis Rasooli, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, AM Ghazanfar, Zia U Rahman Sharifi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nongyal Kharotai, Farid Malik, Bilal Sami.
India-Afghanistan only Test match will start from 6th of next month. Will continue till June 10. After that, two teams will play a three-match ODI series. These matches will be on June 14, 17 and 20.
