The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced its squads for the upcoming Test and One-Day International series against India, with several experienced players returning to lead the team in both formats.
The series is scheduled to run from June 6 to June 20 and includes a one-off Test match followed by a three-match ODI series.
For the Test match, Afghanistan will be captained by Hashmatullah Shahidi. The 15-player squad includes Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangyal Kharoti, Qais Ahmad, Bilal Sami, Zia Sharifi and Saleem Safi.
Bashir Ahmad, Bahir Shah and Ismat Alam were named in the reserve pool for the Test squad.
The ODI squad is also led by Shahidi and features several of Afghanistan’s established limited-overs players, including Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The 15-member ODI squad includes Shahidi, Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Nabi, Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Malik and Bilal Sami.
Qais Ahmad, Saleem Safi and Bashir Ahmad were named as reserves for the ODI series.
The squads feature a blend of experienced international players and emerging talent as Afghanistan prepares for one of its most high-profile assignments of the year.
The series against India will provide an important test for Afghanistan’s red-ball side, which continues to build experience in Test cricket, while the ODI matches will serve as part of the team’s preparations for future international tournaments.
Afghanistan and India have developed a competitive cricketing relationship in recent years, with India serving as Afghanistan’s home venue for many international fixtures because of security challenges in Afghanistan.
