Rashid Khan returns as Afghanistan names squad for ODI series against South Africa

Afghanistan will also have the services of lead spinner Rashid Khan, who missed the previous ODI series against Ireland.

File image of Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan. | Photo Credit: AP

Afghanistan Cricket Board’s National Selection Committee on Thursday finalised the Afghanistan National team’s squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, scheduled to be played from September 18 to 22 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

Afghanistan will be without the services of the prolific top-order batter Ibrahim Zadran who has been ruled out of the series due to an ankle sprain in his left leg. The Afghans will continue to miss the expertise of its frontline spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who is yet to fully recover from a right phalanx sprain.

Right-hand top-order batter Abdul Malik, who recently shined in the domestic List A competitions, has been called up to cover for the injured Ibrahim Zadran. Darwish Rasooli, who has seven T20I caps to his name so far, has been called up too.

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Afghanistan will also have the services of lead spinner Rashid Khan, who missed the previous ODI series against Ireland. The rest of the squad remains the same that helped Afghanistan win the 3-match ODI series 2-nill against Ireland back in March this year.

Afghanistan ODI squad vs South Africa

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik