Afghanistan and Pakistan are scheduled to play a three-ODI series in Sri Lanka starting August 22, 2023.
Will Rashid Khan play ODI series against PAK
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said that Rashid Khan will be available in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan, scheduled in Sri Lanka from August 22.
He skipped The Hundreds due to a back problem recently after Major League Cricket 2023. Pakistan will play Afghanistan in the three-match series.
Rashid had recently seen in the Major League Cricket, where he helped the MI New York to the title. The spinner had impressive figures of 3-9 off his four overs in the final against the Seattle Orcas at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Both teams will be featuring this match as a warmup ahead of the Asia Cup 2023.
The availability of the player against Pakistan in the upcoming series remains a question, the ACB chief selector Asadullah Khan cleared the doubts regarding the return of the player.
“He (Rashid) skipped the Hundred for these games (against Pakistan) as he wanted some rest to be fully fit for the Pakistan game. Consistently he is playing cricket so he took a rest from Hundred for the Pakistan series,” said Asadullah.
“We had a preparation camp in Kabul and the next camp will be in Hambantota from August 10 and he (Rashid) will join the camp in Hambantota,” he said.
He had lots of confidence in the team in the match against Pakistan and thinks it will be a good warmup before two big events Asia Cup and ODI World Cup.
“We have lots of hope before going to the Asia Cup, and if we can win the game that will be very good for our player’s morale,” said Asadullah.
“This is the start of our World Cup journey. Before now, we have selected too many players to set up the team as a unit so they can understand their roles but now we are ok with the squad that will play the Asia Cup as well.
“We have lots of hopes from the fast-bowling attack along with the spinners. And as a batting unit, we are hopeful that those players who are out of form will regain form in the Asia Cup and in the Pakistan series as well.
The good thing is everybody is fully fit and very happy and they are working very hard to perform well. “That ODI series win against Bangladesh gives us lots of confidence as a batting and bowling unit.
We won in Bangladesh, which means that our preparation was very good and some of the mistakes that we made in Bangladesh, I am sure our coach Jonathon and his staff are working very hard on that.,” he concluded.
