Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Monday announced the team's preliminary squad for preparation camp for the one-off Test against New Zealand. Star spinner Rashid Khan, who got injured in The Hundred, is not named in the 20-member preliminary squad for the Test against the Blackcaps.
"Afghanistan Cricket Board’s Selection Committee named a 20-member preliminary Squad for the one-off test match against New Zealand from September 9-13 in Greater Noida, India," ACB wrote in a media statement on Monday, August 26.
The squad will travel to India on August 28 and will be part of a one-week preparation camp ahead of the Greater Noida Test. ACB confirmed that the final squad will be announced at the end of the camp.
"The officials from the selection committee said that the final squad will be announced at the end of the camp considering players’ performance and fitness. Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the Chief Selector said, '20 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,'" ACB added in a statement.
However, the ACB did not give any update on Rashid, who injured his hamstring in Trent Rockets' third last game in the Hundred on August 10. He missed the subsequent two games in the competition.
"I am happy to see some youngsters in the squad who performed well in domestic cricket and have gotten the opportunity to be part of the test squad for this test match.” He further added that ACB is delighted to be embarking on its maiden bilateral event with New Zealand which is a quality side in test cricket and looks forward to a competitive event between black caps and Afghan Atalan," ACB Chairman Mr. Mirwais Ashraf said on the squad.
Afghanistan's preliminary squad for the camp:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (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 and Yama Arab.
