Afghanistan name revised squad for T20 World Cup

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have named an updated squad for the T20 World Cup. Mohammad Nabi has been named the skipper of the side. Nabi’s appointment was made after Rashid Khan stepped down from his post soon after the preliminary squad for the T20 World Cup was announced last month. Rashid was upset as ACB didn’t ask him for his inputs before announcing the squad.

From the squad that was announced earlier, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Dawlat Zadran, who were part of the main squad, have been demoted to the reserve category, while Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmad, and Afsar Zazai have been left out entirely. 

Also, left-arm seamer Fareed Ahmad has been promoted to the 15-man squad. All-rounder Samiullah Shinwari and Fazalha Farooqi will travel with the team as reserve players.

Mohammad Nabi has previously led the team between 2013-2015 and was the captain of the team in the ICC T20 World Cup in 2015. Afghanistan is placed alongside India, Pakistan and New Zealand and will open their campaign on October 25 against a qualifier team from Group B. 

There were doubts about Afghanistan’s participation in the showpiece event after Taliban’s takeover but the new rulers said the cricket activities in the country can continue as normal.

Updated squad: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq