Afghanistan Cricket Board announced on Monday, 26th August that their star player Rashid Khan has given rest for the upcoming one-match Test series against New Zealand as there is still time left for him to get back to his best version and attain the peak fitness required to play longer-version cricket.
ACB announced a 20-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Test against New Zealand, scheduled from September 9-13 in Greater Noida, India.
Rashid was ruled out of The Hundred on August 12 due to a hamstring injury and though he played a couple of matches in the just concluded Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL) 2024, the all-rounder is yet to recover fully to take the load of Test cricket.
“Rashid was injured recently. He was given three to four weeks rest and although he played several Shpageeza T20 matches, for longer format he is not healthy enough( to take the load),” Sayed Naseem Sadaat, spokesperson of ACB, confirmed to Cricbuzz on Monday.
“Rashid was injured recently. He was given three to four weeks rest and although he played several Shpageeza T20 matches, for a longer format he is not healthy enough( to take the load),” Sayed Naseem Sadaat, spokesperson of ACB, confirmed to Cricbuzz on Monday.
“That’s why we will be waiting for him and we hope he will return for the three-match ODI series against South Africa,” he said.
The officials from the selection committee said that the final squad will be announced at the end of the camp considering players’ performance and fitness. “20 players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness,” Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector of ACB said in a statement on Monday.
The squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad and Yama Arab.
