Rashid Khan returns to Afghan fold for South Africa ODIs in UAE
Rashid Khan is set to feature in ODIs for Afghanistan after nearly a year as they announced a 17-man squad for a three-match series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates. However, Ibrahim Zadran and Mujeeb Ur Rahman remain unavailable through injuries while Noor Ahmad has been dropped.
Rashid Khan last played an ODI at the 2023 World Cup in India where the Asian side narrowly missed out on semi-final qualification after failing to convert a couple of promising positions. The all-rounder underwent back surgery soon after which kept him out of six ODIs, nine T20Is, and two Tests before making a comeback in March in a T20I series against Ireland. However, Rashid has since stuck to the shortest format, participating in the Indian Premier League before travelling to North America where he helped his nation script a historic World Cup campaign followed by some Major League Cricket action.
The Afghan next travelled to England after being signed by Trent Rockets in the Hundred but endured a hamstring issue five games in that cut his tournament short. Rashid was also omitted from the Test squad for the one-off match against New Zealand owing to lack of match-readiness for long-form cricket and most recently featured in the Shpageeza Cricket League where he again complained of back issues.
Other significant ommissions include opener Ibrahim Zadran, who twisted his ankle while training for the New Zealand Test, Mujeeb Ur Rahman with an injured finger, and Noor Ahmad for unknown reasons. Off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar has been recruited as a replacement for the latter two alongside Rashid following the 18-year-old's ODI debut against Ireland earlier in the year while top-order batters Darwin Rasooli (seven T20Is) and Abdul Malik (two Tests) are expected to fill the void left by Zadran. 20-year-old medium pacer Bilal Sami has also earned himself a place in the squad for the second time this year albeit he is yet to debut for the national side.
The series kicks off on September 18 with all three games slated to be played in Sharjah in what shall be the first bilateral series between South Africa and Afghanistan. The two sides have met twice before in ODI World Cups with the Proteas taking the honours on both occasions. Notably, Afghanistan are slated to play no more ODIs before their maiden Champions Trophy campaign in February.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad
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