Afghanistan name final T20 World Cup squad with Mohammad Nabi as captain

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The Afghanistan Cricket Board named their final squad for the marquee tournament on Sunday, 10 October, which will be led by the No.1-ranked T20I all-rounder Mohammad Nabi.

Starman Rashid Khan will spearhead the spin attack, along with fellow all-rounder and skipper Nabi and, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Shapoor Zadran and Qais Ahmed failed to make the cut in the final 15 while Farid Ahmed Malik, who was previously named as a reserve, making it to the 15.

Afsar Zazai, who was added as a reserve, did not find a place in either of Afghanistan's lists. Sharafuddin Ashraf and Dawlat Zadran, who were in the provisional 15, have been moved to the reserved players category.

Afghanistan will get their tournament underway in Sharjah on 25 October against the winners of Group B from the tournament’s first round – one of Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea or Scotland.

Nabi and company will also be joined in Group 2 by India, New Zealand and Pakistan, plus the runners-up from the other qualifying pool (either Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands or Sri Lanka).

Afghanistan have won three men’s T20 internationals in their history against the full members of the tournament’s Super 12, out of a total of 14 fixtures. All three of those victories came against the West Indies.

**Squad:**Mohammad Nabi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq.

**Reserves:**Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Fazal Haq Farooqi.