The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named a 20-member preliminary squad for their historic one-off Test against New Zealand which is to be played in Greater Noida, India from September.
Afghanistan recently made history by reaching the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final where they lost to South Africa in the semi-final and a number of players from that team is included in the squad but star spinner Rashid Khan missed out.
The ACB did not reveal the reason behind Rashid’s absence but the wrist spinner injured his hamstring while playing in The Hundred earlier this month.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead Afghanistan in their first-ever Test match against New Zealand as the 20 players named in the squad will fly to India on August 28. The squad will be reduced to 15 after the end of one-week camp.
The ACB CEO expressed his delight to see a number of youngsters in the squad for the New Zealand Test.
“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 said.
"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 the Black Caps and Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan preliminary Test squad
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 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, Yama Arab.
- Rashid Khan
