Star spinner misses out as Afghanistan name preliminary squad for New Zealand Test
Rashid Khan among the notable absentees as Afghanistan reveal their preliminary squad to take on the Kiwis next month.
Afghanistan have named a preliminary squad of 20 players for next month's one-off Test against New Zealand.
A handful of players that helped Afghanistan reach the semi-finals of the recent ICC Men's T20 World Cup have been included in the squad for the Test match that will be held in Greater Noida, India from September 9-13, although star spinner Rashid Khan is among the notable absentees.
Afghanistan failed to disclose a reason for the absence of Rashid, but the spinner did hurt his hamstring when playing in England's domestic Hundred competition earlier this month.
Led by skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, the 20 players will fly out to India on August 28 for a week-long training camp and the squad will be cut to 15 at the completion of the camp and ahead of the clash against the Kiwis.
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White-ball star Azmatullah Omarzai is among a group of players in line to earn a Test debut and Afghanistan chair Mirwais Ashraf was pleased to see so many younger players recognised with selection.
“I am happy to see some youngsters in the squad who performed well in domestic cricket and have gotten the opportunity to be part of the Test squad for this Test match," he said.
"ACB is delighted to be embarking on its maiden bilateral event with New Zealand which is a quality side in Test cricket and looks forward to a competitive event between the Black Caps and Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan preliminary Test squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad, Yama Arab.