The Afghanistan cricket team named a 15-man World Cup squad, in which they recalled fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, but benched all-rounder Gulbadin Naib despite his recent strong performances.
Afghanistan World Cup squad: Under the leadership of the then-32-year-old Naib, Afghanistan suffered defeat in all nine of their games at the last World Cup, which took place in England four years ago. Naib was subsequently dismissed from his role.
But in the last three ODIs, the medium pacer picked up seven wickets, including 4-60 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup match last week in Lahore.
In January 2021, Naveen played the final of his seven ODIs against Ireland.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) predicts success, affirming that the roster is strong.
According to an ACB press release, “Naveen-ul-Haq returned to the Afghanistan ODI squad after a two-year absence for the World Cup in India, and it is a strong squad.”
Following a 3-0 series loss to Pakistan in Sri Lanka and a two-match loss in the Asia Cup, Hashmatullah Shahidi is in charge of a team that has undergone four changes.
Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, and Suliman Safi are all absent in addition to Naib.
On October 7, Afghanistan will play Bangladesh in Dharamsala, India, to begin their World Cup campaign in 2023.
Afghanistan will hope their spin quartet of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad do well on the spin pitches of India.
Afghanistan World Cup squad:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq