Afghanistan name squad for Asia Cup & World Cup T20

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Tuesday announced a 19-man squad for the five-nation Asia Cup Twenty20 Qualifiers and the main event in Bangladesh.

Pace pair of Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan have been recalled in the side. Hassan, however, is not a part of the squad for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, which will be played in February. Hassan’s place in the squad for the Asia Cup will be taken by 23-year-old pace bowler Yamin Ahmadzai, who made his ODI debut in the five-match series against Zimbabwe in the UAE in December-January.

Only one qualifier among the four Asian teams will make a cut to the main event this month. The Afghan will take on Oman, UAE and Hong Kong Asia Cup Qualifier between February 19 and 22 to decide which Associate will enter the main draw involving India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Afghanistan selectors cut several members from the squad that played Zimbabwe in the UAE. Among the notable exclusions are batsman Nawroz Mangal, who had a poor run of form in the ODIs, and bowler Mirwais Ashraf, who played all the ODIs and one T20I on that tour.

Afghanistan are having an impressive run in T20 internationals. Since the 2014 World T20,  they have lost only two of the 13 matches they have played and have won successive series against Zimbabwe.

Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman Nasimullah Danish told Pajhwok Afghan News the selection committee was independent in selecting players after evaluating their overall performances.

He hoped the national side would play well in both the events and would achieve more successes with the help of prayers from fans at home.

ACB chief executive Shafiqullah Stanikzai said the selection committee had picked players who had performed well and extraordinary in recent national and international events.

He said the cricket board had paved the ground for the national players to play practice matches at home and abroad in the lead up to the tournaments in Bangladesh and the side was currently busy practicing in India.

Afghanistan will then play Hong Kong, Scotland and Zimbabwe in Group B of the first round of the World T20. If they top the group, they will join the Super 10s stage, where they will play against England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

They are scheduled to play two warm-ups, against Netherlands and Oman, on March 4 and March 6 in Mohali, before their first match of the tournament against Scotland in Nagpur on March 8.

Squad for the qualifiers: Mohammad Shehzad, Asghar Stanikzai (C), Noor Ali Zadran, Osman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi Issakhel, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Rashid Arman, Hamza Hotak, Dawlat Zadran, Shahpur Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shinwari, Najibullah Zadran and Yemin Ahmadzai. Reserved players: Mirwais Ashraf, Rokhan Barakzai, Najib Tarakai.

Asia Cup squad: Asghar Stanikzai (C), Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Yamin Ahmadzai

World T20: Asghar Stanikzai (C), Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan