Afghanistan Cricket Board announces a 16-member squad for ODI series against Ireland

The Afghanistan Cricket team will lock horns against the Ireland team for a three-match One Day-series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 18, January 21, and January 23 respectively. Ahead of the marquee event, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced a 16-member squad on January 2, Saturday, that will travel to the Gulf Country.

All the three ODIs will be played at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While the Ireland team has already reached Abu Dhabi, ACB is waiting for the confirmation of the visas of the players so that they can board the flight to UAE. This is a crucial series for both nations as it will form a part of the World Cup Super League and will affect their chances of making it to the 2023 World Cup in India.

World Cup Super League is an initiative started by the International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier this year to promote bilateral 50-over games between cricketing nations. It is a two-year-long competition that will help in deciding the nations that will take part in the World Cup 2023. India, who are the hosts in 2023, and the other top seven teams will qualify automatically for the World Cup.

We could not have a good preparation: ACB Director

Before the ODI series against Ireland, ACB had organized a training camp in Nangarhar for the players but the purpose wasn’t fulfilled completely as the practice sessions were interrupted due to harsh weather conditions. Also, the ACB director opined on the Afghanistan squad saying that the management has tried to make a balanced mix of young and experienced players.

”We could not have a good preparation for the last few days because the weather is not good in Afghanistan as here it is very cold,” Raees Ahmadzai, ACB’s director of cricket, told Cricbuzz when asked about the preparation of the players.

”We tried our best to select the best available squad. The side is very balanced as we included some youngster along with the seniors,” he said

Afghanistan squad: Asghar Afghan, Rahmat Shah, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Hashmat Shahidi, Yamin Ahmadzai, Osman Ghani, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahmanullah Gurboz, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Najib Zadran, Jawed Ahmadi, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbudin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sharafuddin Ashraf