Afghanistan squad for T20 World Cup (as named by the ACB):
Rashid Khan (Capt)*, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Usman Ghani, Naveen ul Haq, Asghar Afghan, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Najibullah Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Shapoor Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), and Qais Ahmad
Reserves: Afsar Zazai and Fareed Ahmad
* After Rashid Khan announced that he is stepping down, Mohammad Nabi has been appointed Captain
Notes:
# Out of the total number of 16 countries that are taking part in the World Cup this time, including the first round or the qualifiers, the following 14 had named their final squads.
# They are: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, South Africa, and West Indies
# Only Netherlands and Sri Lanka were to name their squads by last (10) afternoon.
[caption id="attachment_160559" align="alignnone" width="456"]
Rashid Khan has taken 95 T20 international wickets at an average of 12.63[/caption]
Rashid Khan stepped down as Afghanistan Twenty20 Captain just minutes after they named their squad for next month’s T20 World Cup.
Rashid claims he was not consulted on squad selection.
“As the Captain and responsible person for the nation I reserve the right to be part of the selection of the team,” he wrote on Twitter.
“The selection committee and ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) has not obtained my consent for the team which has been announced.”
Disagreement not pointed out
The leg-spinner was only reappointed T20 Captain in July. He also had another brief spell as Captain across all formats in 2019 before being replaced by Asghar Afghan, remembered BBC yesterday (10).
The 22-year-old has not said what particular selection decisions he disagrees with.
A number of experienced players have been recalled including Mohammad Shahzad, Dawlat Zadran, and Hamid Hassan.
Featuring in ‘Super 12’ Group B
The T20 World Cup is scheduled take place between 17 October -14 November in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.
Afghanistan will get their tournament under way in Sharjah on 25 October against one of the two qualifiers in Group B. They will play in ‘Super 12’ Group B.
They also face India, New Zealand, and Pakistan in the group stage.
Some ‘outsiders’
In July, Afghanistan chief selector Asadullah Khan had resigned, citing “too much interruption” and interference from “non-cricketers” in the board, who have “no knowledge about the players and selection” as the main reasons for his decision to step down.
Afghanistan’s squad for the T20 World Cup contained several players who had done well in the past, but not been part of the national set-up in recent times, noted ESPNCricinfo.
Hamid Hassan hasn’t played since 2016
That included Mohammad Shahzad, who had been suspended for one year in late 2019, and has been eligible to play since August 2020.
The pace duo of Shapoor Zadran and Dawlat Zadran were also picked. Shapoor last played a T20I for Afghanistan in March 2020, Dawlat in September 2019.
The injury-prone Hamid Hassan, who hasn’t played a T20I for Afghanistan since March 2016, was also part of the squad, the above report noted.
Number caps for squads
Curiously enough, the squad released had 18 players, with only two marked as reserves. As per the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) rules, each team has to name a squad of 15 players, with a provision for naming reserve players.
In April 2021, the ICC had increased the squad sizes of teams for ICC events from 23 to 30, including support staff, as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Changes likely
With Rashid’s resignation from captaincy and the number of players being named above the limit of 15, there will likely be changes to Afghanistan’s squad.
Afghanistan’s last T20I series was in March 2021 against Zimbabwe, during which Asghar Afghan led the team.