Afghanistan squad for Asia Cup 2022, full list of players for T20 tournament

Afghanistan announced a 17-member team for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE. The Asia Cup, last held in 2018, will be played in T20 format this time.

Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan celebrates after taking a wicket. | Photo Credit: AFP

Afghanistan announced a 17-member team for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE. Sri Lanka will remain host for the tournament to be played between August 27 and September 11.

The Asia Cup, last held in 2018, will be played in T20 format this time. It will start with a qualifying round of matches between UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong. The winner will go on to the main tournament and play Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Chief selector Noor Malikzai: “The Asia Cup is an important event for us and, as such, we have picked our best available players for the event. Samiullah Shinwari has been added to the side for the Asia Cup. He is in very good form and can give further impetus to the batting department, which already boasts Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi. Shinwari has not played any international match since March 2020, but he has done well in the recently held Shpageeza Cricket League 2022 and demonstrated that he is a good option to strengthen our middle order."

Afghanistan is currently in Ireland for a 5-match T20I series against Ireland. The team will depart for UAE for the Asia Cup after Wednesday's series decider against Ireland.

Afghanistan squad for Asia cup

Afghanistan Squad for Asia Cup - Mohammad Nabi (C), Najibullah Zadran (VC), Afsar Zazai (WK), Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujib ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rashid Khan and Samiullah Shinwari. Nijat Masoud, Qais Ahmad, and Sharafuddin Ashraf are the three players, who are part of the team as reserves.