Dubai: Star all-rounder Rashid Khan has made comeback as Afghanistan have named an 18-strong squad for the three One Day Internationals against Bangladesh.
The star spinner missed Afghanistan’s heavy defeat in the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur earlier this month, with the Afghanistan Cricket Board opting to give Rashid some rest after the Indian Premier League.
But the 24-year-old is back in the mix ahead of the white-ball matches, which are scheduled to start on July 5 in Chattogram.
“It’s very good news that everybody is in and everybody is back regarding their fitness and regarding their role in the team and we are quite happy for that,” ACB’s chief selector Asadullah Khan told Cricbuzz on Sunday.
Rashid is joined by five uncapped players in the squad, with Zia Akbar, Izharulhaq Naveed, Wafadar Momand, Abdur Rahman and Saleem Shafi all included.
But there’s no place for rising star Noor Ahmad, who excelled alongside Rashid in the IPL.
However, the selectors explained that the 18-year-old is not yet high enough up the pecking order in One Day Internationals, but could well be included in the T20I matches to follow.
“Right now he (Noor) is very good in T20,” Asadullah Khan said. “Naveed Izhar will be in the one-day and he will back Rashid and Mujeeb, while in the T20 we should have somebody who has confidence. The format is totally changed and the mindset is totally changed and I don’t want to mess it up.”
Star all-rounder returns to Bangladesh squad for Afghanistan ODIs
Afghanistan’s tour of Bangladesh began with a one-off Test, which was won by a massive margin of 546 runs by the hosts. The three-match ODI encounter will be followed by a three-match T20I series.
Afghanistan squad:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Shahidullah, Zia-ur-Rehman, Wafadar Momand, Mohammad Saleem, Sayed Shirzad
Afghanistan reserves: Karim Janat, Zubaid Akbari, Qais Ahmad, Ihsanullah Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Naveen-ul-Haq, Farid Malik, Darwish Rasooli, Ishaq Rahimi
Schedule for the ODI series:
First ODI, 5 July, Chattogram
Second ODI, 8 July, Chattogram
Third ODI, 11 July, Chattogram
Courtesy: ICC