Afghanistan announce new-look limited-overs squads to take on West Indies

Rashid Khan

A new-look Afghanistan side will take on West Indies in the ODI and T20 series commencing from 5 November in Lucknow.

The major talking point from the squad announcement was the exclusion of Shafiqullah Shafiq, Dawlat Zadran, Najeeb Terakai, Fazal Niazai and Shahidullah Kamal. All the five aforementioned players were part of the T20I series against Bangladesh.

Good performances by spin-bowling all-rounder Javed Ahmadi in the domestic T20 Cup helped him earn a recall into the T20I squad. After a gap of almost three years, Test bowler Yamin Ahmadzai was also named in the limited-overs squad to face West Indies.

Afghanistan also named a back-up-keeper in Afsar Zazai for the ODI squad.

Both sides will be captained by Rashid Khan, with the tour involving three ODIs (November 6, November 9 and November 11) and an equal number of T20I games (November 14, November 16 and November 18) at Lucknow’s Ekana International Cricket Stadium. The squad for the only Test (from November 27) hasn’t been announced yet.

Afghanistan will be hoping to produce good results under their new head coach Lance Klusener, who was appointed after their disastrous World Cup campaign where they failed to win even a single match under former coach Phil Simmons.

Lance Klusener

In an attempt to restructure the cricketing system in the country, the Afghanistan board appointed Andy Moles as the director of cricket and chief selector. He served as the interim head coach of the Afghanistan side on their tour of Bangladesh.

Fixtures

ODIs

November 6: 1st ODI

November 9: 2nd ODI

November 11: 3rd ODI

T20Is

November 14: 1st T20I

November 16: 2nd T20I

November 18: 3rd T20I

ODI squad

Rashid Khan (c), Asghar Afghan, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Javed Ahmadi, Afsar Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafudin Ashraf, Ibrahim Zadran, Yamin Ahmadzai, Naveel ul Haq, Ikram Alikhil, Mujeeb ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

T20I squad

Rashid Khan (c), Asghar Afghan, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafudin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Yamin Ahmadzai, Naveel ul Haq, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Also see – T10 schedule