Afghanistan name squad for one-off test against Ireland

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has named a 16-member squad captained by Hashmatullah Shahidi for the one-off test match against Ireland.

Rashid Khan, ace spinner who is recuperating from a lower-back surgery, will miss the test match which is scheduled to commence on Wednesday at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been added to the test squad and is expected to be a potential debutant for Afghanistan against Ireland.

Khalil Gurbaz has been included to provide his leg-break bowling services. He performed well recently in first class matches and picked 40 wickets in 17 innings with the best 6/125 in an inning.

Fast bowler Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai has also been recalled to the squad after Afghanistan’s Bangladesh tour in June last year.

Yamin Ahmadzai and Mohammad Saleem Safi who were part of Afghanistan’s squad for the Sri Lanka test earlier this month, miss out on the selection due to injuries.

ACB’s Interim Chief Selector Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil said: “The team underwent a 10-day conditioning camp in Abu Dhabi, which featured 22 players to ensure full preparation for the series.”

“We thoroughly monitored the proceedings and have picked the squad which includes several new faces who excelled at recent domestic events.”

Squad:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Nijat Masoud, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Naveed Zadran.

This will be Afghanistan’s 9th test match and second against Ireland.

The one-off test match against Ireland will be followed by three match One-Day International (ODI) series and as many T20 International series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

kk/ma

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