Rashid Khan excluded from Afghanistan's preliminary squad for NZ Test
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan's star spinner, is not a part of the preliminary 20-member squad for the upcoming one-off Test against New Zealand. The match is scheduled to take place in Greater Noida from September 9 to 13. This development was confirmed by a statement from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), which did not provide any specific reason for Rashid's exclusion.
Rashid's recent performances and injury
Rashid's last Test appearance for Afghanistan was in Abu Dhabi in March 2021. Despite his absence from the Test squad, he has remained active in the other formats. He recently captained the Speen Ghar Tigers in Kabul's Shpageeza T20 league, where he took six wickets at 9.33 besides scoring a fifty. However, his tenure with Trent Rockets in the men's Hundred was cut short due to a hamstring injury.
Afghanistan's preparation for the NZ Test
The ACB has announced that the squad will depart for India on August 28 to participate in a one-week preparatory camp. Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector, stated, "Twenty players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness." This indicates that final team selection will be based on players' performance during this preparatory period.
Omarzai set for Test debut, Shahidi to lead
Seam-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai is poised to make his Test debut after being included in the preliminary squad. Despite being a regular in Afghanistan's white-ball cricket, Omarzai is yet to play a Test match and has limited First-Class experience with just five long-format games under his belt. Hashmatullah Shahidi will continue as captain for the upcoming series against New Zealand and South Africa.
R Sridhar joins Afghanistan as assistant coach
Afghanistan has appointed a new assistant coach, R Sridhar, for their upcoming series against New Zealand and South Africa. Sridhar previously served as India's fielding coach from 2014 to 2021, working alongside Ravi Shastri. The Test against New Zealand will be Afghanistan's 10th overall and their third of 2024 - the most they have played in a calendar year so far.
Afghanistan preliminary squad for one-off Test against NZ
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad, Yama Arab.
