Asia Cup 2023: Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf Back In Afghanistan Squad

Asia Cup 2023: Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf Back In Afghanistan Squad (Image Source: IANS)

Asia Cup Super Fours: Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran and Sharafuddin Ashraf have made a return to Afghanistan’s 17-member squad for the Asia Cup, to be played from August 30 to September 17 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Janat played his only ODI for Afghanistan in February 2017 against Zimbabwe and hasn’t featured in the format since then. But Janat has made appearances in T20Is, including taking a hat-trick against Bangladesh, and also made his Test debut this year.

Ashraf, who hasn’t played ODIs since January 2022, also makes a comeback to the team as a reserve spinner. Najibullah, who missed the recently-concluded ODI series against Pakistan due to a knee injury, has been included in the lineup and is expected to recover from the injury before the start of the event, said Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in its statement.

Fast bowlers Mohammad Saleem Safi and Abdul Rahman, who were part of Afghanistan’s recent home ODI series against Pakistan, have retained their spots in the lineup, but Fareed Ahmad and Wafadar Momand have been left out of the squad.

Seam-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has been ruled out of the competition due to a side strain, which also led him to miss the third ODI. Gulbadin Naib retains his place in the squad while Shahidullah Kamal has been left out of the side captained by Hashmatullah Shahidi.

Afghanistan are in Group B of the Asia Cup and will start their campaign against Bangladesh on September 3 in Lahore and will play their second group game against Sri Lanka at the same venue on September 5.

The top two sides from Groups A and B will progress to the Asia Cup Super Fours, where they will play three more games at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, which will also host the final on September 17.

Afghanistan squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem and Fazalhaq Farooqi