Afghanistan has announced its squad for the upcoming tri-series against Pakistan and the UAE and the big news is that Rashid Khan will be the captain. The 22 member squad was announced as per ICC guidelines.
Several players who were part of the team that reached the knockout stage of the previous year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup are in the squad. These include Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mohammad Nabi.
There are also some new faces in the mix. Wafiullah Tarakhil, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Bashir Ahmad have made it to the preliminary squad. If selected this could be their first international game.
Before the tri-series starts in Sharjah the team will have a two week training camp. Their first game is on August 29 against Pakistan. This series is a lead up to the Asia Cup in September as teams from the region prepare for next year’s T20 World Cup.
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Afghanistan and Pakistan have a history at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium having played 5 T20Is there. Pakistan has won 3 of those games while Afghanistan has won 2.
Here’s the schedule for the tri-series:
- August 29: Afghanistan v Pakistan
- August 30: UAE v Pakistan
- September 1: UAE v Afghanistan
- September 2: Pakistan v Afghanistan
- September 4: Pakistan v UAE
- September 5: Afghanistan vs UAE
- September 7: Final
Considering the conditions Afghanistan could be a serious threat to the other teams in Group B. They have had good results against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in different formats of the game. If they make it to the Super 4s they have a good chance of winning it all.
This tri-series with Pakistan and UAE is an opportunity for Afghanistan to prepare for the Asia Cup. The series starts on August 29 in Sharjah, Afghanistan will play Pakistan. Every team will play the other two teams twice and then the top two teams will play the final on September 7.
Afghanistan’s 22-member preliminary squad
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharoti, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Zadran, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Farid Malik, Saleem Safi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad.
