Rashid ruled out of T20I series against India

ATLNATA (Pajhwok): Afghanistan T20 skipper and spin master Rashid Khan, recuperating from the lower-back surgery, has been ruled out of the series against India, media reports said on Thursday.

Indian’s star batter Virat Kohli will also miss the opener of the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan on Thursday for personal reasons, coach Rahul Dravid said.

ESPN cricinfo quoted Ibrahim Zadran as saying: “He is not totally fit, but is travelling with the team. We hope that he gets fit as soon as we expect him to. He's doing his rehab with the doctor, and we will miss him in the series.

"Without Rashid, we will struggle but not that much because his experience is very important for all of us. But this is cricket and you should be ready for any kind of situation." Ibrahim said.

Rashid has not played a competitive game since the ODI World Cup in October-November, and missed Afghanistan's most recent assignment, a 2-1 T20I series win over the UAE at the turn of the year.

In Rashid's absence, Afghanistan's spin workload in India will be shared among Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad, Qais Ahmad and Sharafuddin Ashraf.

Qais, who has taken on Afghanistan's legspin mantle in Rashid's absence, was the leading wicket-taker in the UAE series, with six scalps at an average of 11.16 and an economy rate of 6.70.

Ibrahim looks forward to a competitive series against India. "Playing against India on their home soil is a difficult task, but we came here to play well against them and show our skills," he commented.

"We have lots of good T20 players, all our boys are playing good cricket, so I am sure they will play well. We will have a good series against India." Ibrahim hoped.

The three-match T20I series commences today (Thursday) in Mohali. Indore and Bangalore will host the second and third games on January 14 and 17.

kk/mud