Afghanistan announce squads for limited-overs series against Zimbabwe

Afghanistan have announced  squad for the forthcoming limited-overs series against Zimbabwe. Zia-ur-Rehman Akbar has been called up in place of all-rounder Gulbadin Naib. For the 20-over series, Qais Ahmed and Mujeeb ur Rahman, who will be playing at the T20 Blast, have been replaced by Ihsanullah Jannat and Noor Ahmad. The ODI series is scheduled to begin on June 4 and will be followed by the T20I series.

Zia scalped 14 wickets at an average of 12 in Afghanistan’s 50-over domestic tournament Green Afghanistan One-day Cup and was the leading wicket-taker for his side Hindukush Strikers. Qais will be committed to playing for the Kent while and Mujeeb will join Middlesex after completing the ODI series for Afghanistan. Thus, their T20 Blast commitments have made Afghanistan go with the changes in the T20 squad.

Gulbadin Naib’s performance with the bat last year was worrisome, as he averaged just 13.75. His last ODI game was against Bangladesh, and he has managed to pick only two wickets in his previous 10 ODIs. As a result, he was dropped from the T20I squad that played against Bangladesh this year. Right-arm fast Nijat Masoud and spinner Noor Ahmed have been picked as the reserve played for the 50-over series.

Results of the ODI series will count for the World Cup Super League

The Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe is set to begin on June 4, with the visitors set to travel to the host nation later this week. The ODI series will be important for the two teams as it will count towards the ODI World Cup Super League. While Afghanistan are ranked fifth with seven victories in nine games, Zimbabwe are 12th with three wins in 12 games.

Afghanistan’s last encounter in the white-ball format was against Bangladesh as they played a three-match ODI series and two T20Is in February-March. While they lost the ODIs by 2-1, the managed to end the T20I series in a stalemate, drawing the series 1-1.

Afghanistan ODI squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Ibrahim Zadran, Ikram Alikhail, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan, Riaz Hassan, Shahidullah Kamal, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia ur Rahman Akbar
Traveling reserves: Noor Ahmad, Nijat Masoud

T20I squad: Mohammad Nabi (C), Najibullah Zadran (VC), Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ihsanullah Janat, Karim Janat, Nijat Masoud, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Usman Ghani