The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has put pace bowler Wafadar Momand in their 16-person team for the two T20I games against Bangladesh. Momand has never played for Afghanistan before. Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai will also be back for the new season.
Afghanistan arrived in Dhaka on July 1, a week before the three ODIs that were to be played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from July 5 to 11. After the series, both teams will go to Sylhet to play two Twenty20 Internationals at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on July 14 and 16.
Asadullah Khan, the chief selector for the Afghanistan Cricket Board, said that they brought back Mohammad Shahzad, who last played in a T20I against New Zealand in 2021, because of his recent performances in domestic cricket. He also said that the selection panel is starting to look at all the players before they choose their team for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and West Indies.
“We got Shahzad because we think it’s important to have an offensive batsman as a backup for the starting spot, since anything can happen in cricket. He is the best choice right now, and he did very well in the local competition. Asadullah told Cricbuzz on Sunday, “He shows that he is ready for T20Is, and we are starting the process for the next T20 World Cup. We will see the players in their usual roles, and then we will decide.”
“We chose Momand because he is fast and has shown this in camps and in local cricket. As I’ve already said, we’re looking at the players so we can choose the final World Cup team.
Afsar Zazai, Usman Ghani, Sharafadullah Ashraf, and Gubaidin Naib, who used to be the national captain, were all on the team that played Pakistan, but they have since lost their spots.
“It’s not true that Naib’s time is up because he’s getting old. As I already said, we are looking at different players during the games so we can choose a team for the future,” he said.
Squad: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Shehzad, Wafadar Momand, Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq
