Mohammed Nabi to lead Afghanistan at T20 World Cup

There is no place for any of Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat or Noor Ahmad in the Afghan squad, while Qais Ahmad is included having not played a T20I since March

Sam Morshead | 16/09/2022 at 09:25

Mohammed Nabi has been named Afghanistan captain for the T20 World Cup.

Nabi will lead the 15-strong squad, which includes Rashid Khan, as five members of the group which took part in the Asia Cup miss out.

There is no place for any of Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat or Noor Ahmad, while Qais Ahmad is included having not played a T20I since March.

Twenty-year-old Salim Safi gets his maiden international call-up.

"The Asia Cup was a very good opportunity for the team to buildup things nicely for the much-important global event in Australia," chief selector Noor Malikzai said.

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^{Mohammed Nabi will lead Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup [AFP via Getty Images]}

"Fortunately, Darwish Rasooli has recovered from injury (broken finger) and we are happy to have him available for the WT20, he has demonstrated good glimpses of him in the previously held Shpageeza Cricket League 2022 and offers an additional batting option to our middle order.

"Since the Australian conditions offer further support for the fast bowlers, so we have added Salim Safi, the tall right-arm quick to add further impetus to our bowling department. Overall we have picked our best available players for the event and we are hopeful of them to do well and better represent the country in the mega event."

Afghanistan will face hosts Australia, England, New Zealand and two qualifiers from the first round of the competition in the group stage proper, with their first game scheduled for October 22 in Perth, against England.

Afghanistan squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib