The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced its teams for the forthcoming white-ball series against Bangladesh, which will take place from October 2–14 in the United Arab Emirates. Notable additions and deletions were made to the announcement as Afghanistan gets ready for the run-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next year.
Because senior players Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, and Fazalhaq Farooqi were not selected in either format, selectors chose to bolster the team with new players. Farooqi has been replaced in both squads with tall left-arm pacer Bashir Ahmad, who has not yet made his international debut.
In his 14 T20 appearances thus far, he has claimed 12 wickets at an economy rate of 9.06. Wafiullah Tarakhil, who was selected for the T20I team following a successful Shpageeza Cricket League season in which he amassed 298 runs in nine innings with a strike rate of 155.20 and an average of 37.25, will join him.
After playing in the Asia Cup reserves, pacer Abdullah Ahmadzai also makes a comeback to the T20I team. While reserves Bilal Sami and Faridoon Dawoodzai offer more fast-bowling options, fast bowler Mohammad Saleem Safi was included in the ODI squad.
Although he was demoted to the reserves for the T20I team, spinner AM Ghazanfar was also added to the ODI squad. The inclusion of Nangeyalia Kharote in ODIs, in addition to Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Ghazanfar, strengthens a team that is dominated by spin.
Rahmat Shah will serve as Hashmatullah Shahidi’s deputy as captain of the ODI team. Ibrahim Zadran will be the vice-captain of the T20I team, while Rashid will be the captain. After a lengthy break in Afghanistan’s international calendar, ACB CEO Naseeb Khan stressed the significance of the forthcoming matches:
“We are starting a busy season with a lot of Twenty20 International matches planned after a lengthy six-month break from international cricket after the ICC Champions Trophy. The team now has a fantastic opportunity to be ready for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup the following year. Although the Asia Cup 2025 performances fell short of expectations, this is a natural part of the game. In a statement, ACB CEO Naseeb Khan expressed his continued optimism that AfghanAtalan would recover well and honour our country in the forthcoming events.
Afghanistan’s Twenty20 International team
Azmatullah Omarzai, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Darwish Rasooli, Ibrahim Zadran (vice-captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mohamamad Ishaq (wk), Rashid Khan (captain), Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bashir Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Abdullah Ahmadzai, and Sediqullah Atal.
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