Afghanistan vs Ireland: ACB names the squad for the ODI series

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has recently announced a 21-member squad for their ODI series against Ireland that is scheduled to get underway on Thursday, February 28 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun in Uttarakhand. In fact, all the encounters will be hosted by the same venue including that of the three-match T20I series.

The Afghans played their first matches at this particular venue in the mid of 2018 when Bangladesh toured them for a three-match T20I series. The hosts managed to comprehensively whitewash them 3-0. Back in 2017, Ireland also toured Afghanistan, but that time around, the matches were held at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground in Greater Noida.

A power-packed squad

As far as the current squad is concerned, it would be led by the enigmatic Asghar Afghan, who’s most likely to lead them in the upcoming World Cup, starting May 30, in England and Wales. The team has the likes of Zahir Khan Pakteen and Ikram Ali Khil, who played the U19 World Cup in New Zealand where the Afghans progressed to the semi-final against Australia.

Left-arm fast bowler Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, who was amongst the leading wicket-takers in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (APL) also made his way into the mix. The swashbuckling left-hander in Hazratullah Zazai would one of the youngsters to watch out for.

The team would be looking up to the likes of Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan to deliver, being experienced campaigners. Fast bowler Dawlat Zadran hasn’t played any competitive cricket for the last 10 months or and he would be keen to find his feet.

Here is the squad

Asghar Afghan (C), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Javid Ahmadi, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Ali Khil, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Aftab Alam, Dawlat Zadran, Zahir Khan, Farid Ahmad Malik, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Shapoor Zadran, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad

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