Afghanistan announce 15-member squad for T20 World Cup 2022

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), on Thursday, September 15, announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Mohammad Nabi will be leading the side, and a handful of notable changes were seen in the squad, as compared to the one that played the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022.

Top-order batter Darwish Rasooli, who made his T20I debut earlier this year and has played only four T20Is was included in the main squad. Another spinner, who is partially new to the international setup and has been included in the squad, is Qais Ahmed. The right-arm leg break bowler who has played only two T20Is for Afghanistan so far has got a breakthrough.

20-year-old Mohammad Saleem Safi, who is yet to make his international debut, has earned a call-up and is a part of the 15-member roster. Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah will travel with the team as reserve players. Notably, Karim Janat, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ahmad, and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who were seen with the team during the Asia Cup 2022, have missed out on the flight to the marquee event.

Afghanistan was last seen during the Asia Cup 2022. They had a memorable start to their campaign, but in no time, it turned into a nightmare. After winning two straight games in the group stage and cruising into the Super Four stage, Afghanistan lost all their fixtures against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India, and their hopes of winning the title were crushed.

But the team put up some competing performances throughout their campaign. A team that was much more inexperienced compared to a couple of other teams at the tournament, Mohammad Nabi managed to lead the team well in the first two games. The players would now look to start afresh, not thinking of the dismal Asia Cup campaign, and their focus will now shift to the global event.

Afghanistan’s Squad for T20 World Cup 2022:

Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi (c), Usman Ghani, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Saleem Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib, Rahmat Shah