The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced a 17-member squad for the two practice matches starting in Sharjah on December 22.
Afghanistan squad for UAE Practice matches
Afghanistan is scheduled to play a three-match T20I series in Afghanistan tour of UAE 2023 starting on Friday. Before the T20I series, both sides are scheduled to play in two practice matches which start this Monday.
Afghanistan side led by Hashmatullah Shahidi has lots of known faces Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Gulbdain Naib, Farid Ahmad, and Sharafuddin Ashraf who were part of the World Cup 2023.
The squad also features youngsters such as the wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Ishaq Rahimi, T20I-capped middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli, Test-capped middle-order batter Baheer Shah Mahboob, and the right-arm quick Bilal Sami.
Other players like Yamin Ahmadzai, Qais Ahmad, and Zia Ur Rehman Akbar have also been recalled to the team to face UAE. The series will be sponsored by Super Cola and Etisalat Afghanistan Telecommunication company which will be Afghanistan’s last 50-over match in 2023.
Both sides have played in 9 T20I matches with each other where 7 matches were won by Afghanistan while 2 matches were won by United Arab Emirates.
They recently faced off against each other in a T20I series in UAE between February 16-19 where Afghanistan won the series 2-1.
Afghanistan squad for practice match
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Mohammad Ishaq Rahimi (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Darwish Rasooli, Bahir Shah Mahboob, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Abdurahman Rahmani, Farid Ahmad Malik, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bilal Sami and Zia Ur Rehman Akbar.
