Afghanistan squad announced for T20 series against Pakistan, Mohammad Nabi returns

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Kabul | Mohammad Nabi has returned to Afghanistan’s T20 squad. Uncapped opener Sediqullah Atal has also got a place in the squad for Afghanistan’s three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Sharjah. These three matches will be held on 24, 26 and 27 March.

There have been many changes in the Afghanistan squad that played three T20 matches against UAE last month. Rahmat Shah and Hazratullah Zazai were dropped, while Nijat Masood and Zaheer Khan were kept in reserve.

Nabi last played for Afghanistan in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in November last year. Just before this series, he left the captaincy of the T20 team after the T20 World Cup.

This T20 series against Pakistan is scheduled in place of three ODIs. These ODIs were to play Afghanistan against Australia in the same window, but Australia refused to play after the Taliban regime announced a ban on girls’ university education. Cricket Australia took this decision after consulting the Australian Government.

The PCB agreed to play the T20 series against Afghanistan. PCB chairman Najam Sethi had said, “Cricket and politics should be kept separate.” Pakistan announced its squad for the series last week, resting senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Fakhar Zaman. All-rounder Shadab Khan was given the command of the team.

Afghanistan squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Sharfuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmed, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmed, Fazalhaq Farooqui and Naveen Ul Haq

Reserve players: Nangyal Kharoti, Zaheer Khan and Nijat Masood

–IANS

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