Afghanistan have dropped 41-year-old allrounder Mohammad Nabi from their T20I side and have left out middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli from both ODIs and T20Is as the selectors named the squads for the upcoming Tests against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the ODI tri-series involving the same teams, and the three T20Is against Zimbabwe.
All the matches will be played in the UAE.
Afghanistan’s first task will be a one-off Test against Bangladesh from October 9 in Abu Dhabi, which will be the first full-time Test captaincy assignment for Rahmat Shah after he took over from Hashmatullah Shahidi. Rashid Khan and Ibrahim Zadran continue to be rested from Tests as per medical assessments, which has advised them against participating in the longest format. Left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman, meanwhile, returned to the Test side after a long injury layoff that kept him out of action for 14 months.
Fast-bowling allrounder Ismat Alam, middle-order batter Shahidullah, fast bowler Yamin Ahmadzai and legspinner Khalil Gurbaz also returned to the Test squad. Alam missed the recent Test against India, while Shahidullah and Ahmadzai were rewarded for their performances in the ongoing Ahmad Shah Abdali Tournament, Afghanistan’s domestic first-class tournament.
Twenty-five-year-old fast bowler Abdullah Tarakhail earned his maiden T20I call-up after shining in the Shpageeza Cricket League in July, taking 10 wickets in seven games. He was also among the wickets in the Kabul Premier League and the Ahmad Shah Abdali Tournament.
Seam-bowling allrounder Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai and Shahidullah were recalled for the T20Is, while Fareed Ahmad was promoted to the main T20I squad after being among the reserves for the recent T20I series in India.
Nabi had played all three T20Is against India in Delhi last month and went wicketless in two of those. He scored 8, 20 and 33 and recently slipped out of the top 10 ICC rankings for allrounders, and now finds himself out of the T20I squad too. He is, however, in the ODI squad as the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the team management are keen to have him play on till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Rasooli has been dropped after bagging two ducks in his last three innings in the Asian Games after his scores of 26 and 2 against India. Prior to that, he also had a low-scoring ODI series in Ireland where he made 24, 13 and 16.
After the Test against Bangladesh, Afghanistan will play a short ODI tri-series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from October 17 to 23, in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, before hosting Zimbabwe for three T20Is (October 27 to November 1) and the two Tests from November 5 and 13, all in Sharjah.
Afghanistan Test squad for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe
Rahmat Shah (capt), Ikram Alikhil (vice-capt & wk), Afsar Zazai (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmanullah Zadran, Shahidullah, Ismat Alam, Qais Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman, Khalil Gurbaz, Mohammad Saleem, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi and Yamin Ahmadzai
Reserves: Bahir Shah, Naseer Khan Maroofkhil, Bilal Sami and Bashir Ahmad
Afghanistan ODI squad for tri-series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe
Rahmat Shah (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (vice-capt & wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohamamd Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Bilal Sami, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Yamin Ahmadzai
Travelling reserve: Qais Ahmad
Afghanistan T20I squad for Zimbabwe
Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Noor Rahman (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Akram, Shahidullah, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdullah Tarakhail, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Fareed Ahmad
Reserves: Faridoon Dawoodzai, Qais Ahmad and Nangyalai Khan
