Afghanistan announce the 15-man squad for ICC U19 World Cup

Afghanistan, on Sunday, announced their squad for the upcoming ICC U19 World Cup. Opening batsman Farhan Zakhil will lead the team as Afghanistan will look to impress in the tournament once again after punching above their weight in the last edition. The much-awaited tournament will be held in South Africa in January and February next year.

Zakhil, who is 16-year old, made his U19 debut for Afghanistan against India in March this year. Having already played as many as 13 first-class matches, the highly-rated batsman also led the side in the Under-19 Asia Cup and the recently-concluded one-day series versus India. Talking about his first-class record, he has already scored three centuries with an unbeaten knock of 167 being his best. Overall, he has scored 929 runs in first-class cricket.

Afghanistan international in the squad

Another notable player in the team is Ibrahim Zadran who has already played in two Tests for Afghanistan. He made his debut in the historic Test against Bangladesh, scoring 87 while opening the innings as Afghanistan stunned their fancied opponents. Zadran has also played an ODI and three T20Is for the senior side.

The talented opener, meanwhile, is not new to playing in the ICC U19 World Cup. He was part of the Afghanistan U19 team in the previous edition of the competition which was held in 2018 in New Zealand. Zadran scored 186 runs in five matches at an average of 37.20 in the testing conditions of New Zealand.

Allrounder Abi Mohammadi is also in the squad. He recently impressed in a one-day game against India U19 picking up four wickets. Chinaman bowler Noor Ahmad, who has been reportedly called by Kings XI Punjab for trials, is also in the team. In the fifth and final one-day against India, he had picked up three wickets to help his side win the game.

Pacer Samiullah Salarzai, Majeed Alam, Arif Khan, Islam Zazai and Ihsan Mandozai are in the reserve list for the tournament. Afghanistan U19 will be looking to build on their stunning performance in the last edition of the competition where they made it to the semifinal. The tournament will start on January 17, 2020, with Afghanistan taking on South Africa in the opener.

Afghanistan squad:

Farhan Zakhil (C), Sediq Atal, Rahmanullah Zadran, Ibrahim Zadran, Ishaq Mohammadi, Noor Ahmad, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Jamshid Mir Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Abid Taniwal, Fazal Haq, Imran Mir, Zohaib Zamankhil, Asif Musazai and Abid Mohammadi.

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