IND vs AFG: Afghanistan team announced for T20 series against India, this player became the captain
India vs Afghanistan T20 Series: Regular T20 captain Rashid Khan has also got a place in the 19-member Afghanistan team, although he is not scheduled to play a single match. Rashid recently had back surgery, from which he is recovering.
Afghanistan's regular T20 captain Rashid Khan, spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and wicketkeeper-batsman Ikram Alikhil have been included in the squad for the upcoming three-match series against India. Interestingly, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in its statement that leg-spin all-rounder Rashid will not be able to play in any match against India as he is recovering from recent back surgery. Rashid was with the Afghanistan team as a reserve player in the recent T20 series against UAE.
This also means that opener Ibrahim Zadran, who led Afghanistan to a 2-1 series win against the UAE in Sharjah, will continue to lead the team in the T20 series against India. Alikhil, who was part of the reserves against UAE, has been promoted to the main team as a backup wicketkeeper-batsman and replaces fellow keeper Mohammad Ishaq.
Mystery spinner Mujeeb returns to the squad for the series against India after the board cleared him, along with fast bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqui and Naveen-ul-Haq, after previously expressing their desire to be left out of the central contract list for 2024. Was.
Due to this, the board decided that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) would not be issued to these three to play in foreign T20 leagues for the next two years. Naveen and Faruqi made it into the Afghanistan squad for the series against the UAE after expressing their strong desire to represent the country, while Mujeeb's stint with the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL) came to a premature end.
ACB President Mirwaiz Ashraf said, 'We are happy to be on our first tour of India for a three-match series. India is the top-ranked team in the world and it is great to see Afghanistan compete against them in a three-match T20. We believe that Afghanistan are no longer weak and has performed well in recent times and we look forward to a highly competitive series against India.
This will be the first time India will face Afghanistan in a bilateral men's T20 series, with the matches taking place in Mohali, Indore and Bengaluru on January 11, 14 and 17 respectively. This will be India's last international series before the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup to be held in West Indies and USA from June 1-29.
Afghanistan team: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazal Haq Farooqui, Farid Ahmed, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmed, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmed, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.
