Afghanistan announce squad for World Cup 2023

With the ODI World Cup 2023 less than a month away, all the ten participating teams are announcing their squads for the mega event one by one. On Wednesday, September 13 Afghanistan announced their 15-member squad for the cricketing extravaganza scheduled to take place in India from October 05. The team will be led by Hashmatullah Shahidi. While Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil are two wicketkeeping options in the squad.

However, the most notable inclusion is of Naveen-ul-Haq who missed out on the team’s Asia Cup 2023 squad. Notably, Naveen is making a return to the Afghanistan ODI side after a gap of two years. He last played the 50-over format against Ireland at Abu Dhabi in January 2021.

In the seven matches played in his career so far in the format, the 23-year-old has picked up 14 wickets at an average of 25.42 and an economy of 5.78. Apart from him, all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai made a return after recovering from an injury that sidelined him from Asia Cup.

Gulbadin Naib included as reserve

Meanwhile, senior all-rounder Gulbadin Naib has missed out from the team despite having a good Asia Cup 2023. The 32-year-old shone on his ODI comeback in the recent three-match series vs Pakistan in August. The right-arm seamer picked wickets of both openers in the third ODI. He further took a four-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup. However, he still couldn’t make it to the 15 and has been included as a reserve.

Apart from him, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Suliman Safi have also been dropped. Notably, Janat was recalled for the Asia Cup after a six-year gap from ODI cricket.

Afghanistan squad for World Cup 2023: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdul Rahman, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq