Eight IPL players named in Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad

Kabul: Eight players featuring in the ongoing Indian Premier League have been named in the 15-member Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad to be led by star all-rounder Rashid Khan.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, who captained Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup, has been left out of the squad named by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Saleem Safi have been named as travelling reserves for the marquee event to be played in the USA and the Caribbean from June 2.

Rashid, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib are the Afghan players currently playing in the IPL.

The squad has only four batters in wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran and back-up keeper Mohammad Ishaq. But, six all-rounders have been named to make up for the lesser number of specialist batters.

Apart from Rashid, the other all-rounders are Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat and Nangeyalia Kharote.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Noor are the other spinners along with Rashid, Nabi, Kharote.

Right-arm fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, left-armers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad will man the pace department, along with the all-rounders.

Janat, Ishaq and Noor have been after missing the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan are in Group C in the 20-team tournament, along with New Zealand, co-hosts West Indies, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. They play their first match against Uganda on June 3 at Providence.

The squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Reserves: Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Saleem Safi.