Afghanistan announce 24-man training squad ahead of Sri Lanka series

Afghanistan have named 24 players who will train in the United Arab Emirates in the run-up to the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka set to begin on 25 November.

The squad includes players from the recently held ODI series against Zimbabwe as well as some of the top performers on the domestic circuit from the last two years, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement.

The squad departs for the UAE on Saturday, and will start their training and preparation camp on Tuesday. The training will run until November 21, and the players will head to Sri Lanka on the 22nd.

“We will be regularly observing the process and will try to select the best among them for the series. We have also included Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Baheer Shah Mahboob, two of our domestic players, who have put on consistent top performances in our domestic competitions, they will join the camp once their visas have been issued,” chief selector Noor Ul Haq Malikzai said.

Included in the squad are: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah (vice-captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Shahidullah Kamal, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Zia ur Rahman Akbar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Farid Ahmad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Nijat Masoud, Azmatullah Omarzai, Qais Ahmad, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Baheer Shah Mahboob.