Afghanistan name 15 men squad for the ODI World Series

Pace bowler Naveen-ul-Haq , who last made an ODI appearance in January 2021, has been named in the Afghanistan side for the 2023 ODI World Series, which begins in India next month. 

Naveen last January announced a break from ODIs and ever since has not been picked in Afghanistan’s 50 over squads.

Now though, he will join alliances with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai  to form Afghanistan’s pace attack. 

Omazi, who picked a side strain during Afghanistan’s ODI series against the Shaheens in August, returns to the side after missing the Asia ODI Series.

Rashid Khan will lead the spin attack which comprises the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmed and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. 

Rahmanullah Gurabaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah form their top order, with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi set bat at Number 4. Najibullah Zadran will also slot in at the middle order. 

Mohammad Saleem and Karim Janat are the two players from the Asia ODI Series who have been dropped from Afghanistan’s World Series squad. 

Afghanistan will commence their World Series campaign on October 7 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala. Prior to that, they will play two warm up games against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on September 29 and then against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on October 3. 

Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil,Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-Ul-Haq

Reserves: Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad