Ace Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has been omitted from their preliminary 20-man squad for the one-off Test against New Zealand. The Test is scheduled to take place in Greater Noida from September 9 to 13. The upcoming Test will mark Afghanistan’s 10th overall and their third of 2024.
Rashid’s exclusion from the preliminary squad is unexpected, given that the 25-year-old is Afghanistan’s leading wicket-taker in the game’s longest format. He has so far claimed 34 wickets in five games, including four five-wicket hauls at an average of 22.35. He last played a Test in 2021 against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi, where he picked up 11 wickets. In addition to his bowling prowess, he is also a useful lower-order batter with a half-century to his name in red-ball cricket.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has not mentioned the reason for Rashid’s omission from the preliminary squad led by Hashmatullah Shahidi. Alongside the 25-year-old spinner, Afghanistan has also left out Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Karim Janat. However, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib, and Azmatullah Omarzai have been included. ACB also confirmed that the final 15-member squad for the one-off Test will be announced after the week-long preparatory camp in Greater Noida. The 20-member preliminary squad is scheduled to arrive in India on August 28.
Omarzai, a seam-bowling allrounder, is poised to make his Test debut as he has been included in the preliminary squad. He has insufficient experience in first-class cricket having only played five long-format games to date.
Additionally, Afghanistan will welcome R Sridhar as their new assistant coach for their upcoming series against New Zealand and South Africa. Sridhar, a former Indian first-class cricketer, has previously served as India’s fielding coach from 2014 to 2021.
“Twenty players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness,” Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector said.
“I am happy to see some youngsters in the squad who performed well in domestic cricket and have gotten the opportunity to be part of the Test squad for this Test match,” said ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf.
Afghanistan preliminary squad for one-off Test against NZ
Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad, Yama Arab.
