Rashid Khan misses out as Afghanistan name 15-man squad for one-off Test against Bangladesh

Afghanistan have named a 15-man squad for their upcoming one-off Test match against Bangladesh, starting June 14. Big names like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman are not present in the team for the Test match.

Afghanistan are among the new Test-playing nations in the world. They made their Test debut in 2018 and have played only six Tests so far. Their previous Test match came back in the year 2021 against Zimbabwe.

Hashmatullah Shahidi will captain the Afghan team in their upcoming match against Bangladesh. The 15-man squad features some top names like Ibrahim Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Hamza Kotak, and Karim Janat.

Here is the full squad and list of reserves:

Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Nijat Masood, Yamin Ahmadzai, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Izharullah Haq Naveed, Hamza Kotak, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhel, Afsar Zazai, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Rahmat Shah, Nasir Jamal, Abdul Malik and Ibrahim Zadran.

List of Reserves: Noor Ali, Zia Akbar, Azmat Omarzai and Sayed Shirzad.

Why is Rashid Khan missing from Afghanistan's Test squad against Bangladesh?

Rashid Khan is among the biggest match-winners for Afghanistan. Not long ago, he was the captain of the Afghanistan Test match. In fact, he scored a half-century and bagged 11 wickets in Afghanistan's first-ever Test win over Bangladesh back in September 2019.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has not issued a statement regarding Khan's unavailability. He recently suffered an injury, which ruled him out of the just-concluded ODI series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. It seems like the leg-spinner has not yet regained full fitness, which is why he is absent from Afghanistan's Test squad.

The one-off Test match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh have never won a Test match against Afghanistan. It will be interesting to see if they can register their first victory.