Cricket fans were shocked on Sunday when the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) unveiled the Asia Cup 2023 squad – minus star pacer, Naveen ul-Haq.

After his snub by the ACB, Naveen took to social media to publish a cryptic post. He posted a selfie across his social media profiles and captioned it: “No matter how well your eyes adjust to darkness, you’ll never mistake it for light.”

Cricket experts have however spoken out about the move and say his aggression and game-changing abilities could have been a great addition to the Afghanistan side.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, fans expressed their disappointment over missing out on the chance to see a clash between Naveen and Virat Kohli – after the two players were involved in a heated argument in May in an IPL when Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Lucknow Super Giants. The moment escalated further after former Indian cricketer and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir got involved.

The bout garnered major traction across social media, and fans were looking forward to both players facing one another once more in the Asia Cup. However, they were met with disappointment after Naveen was not named in Afghanistan’s squad for the tournament.

Cricktracker reported the reason for the star pacer being left out of the squad is unknown, however, it could be due to fitness reasons as the pacer has been struggling with injuries in recent months.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board on Sunday announced the 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 which starts on Wednesday, 30th August 2023.

Hashmatullah Shahidi will captain the team, which includes experienced players such as Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammad Nabi among others.

The batting looks strong with the likes of Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Akhil, and Gulbdain Naib in the team. The pace bowling department comprises Fazalhaq Farooqi, Karim Janat, and Abdul Rahman while the spin bowling looks extremely potent with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed, and Mohammad Nabi.

The tournament promises to be an exciting event as Afghanistan will no doubt look to take lessons from the 3-match ODI series against Pakistan that finished on Saturday. Pakistan clinched the series 3-0.

Afghanistan will start their campaign against Bangladesh at Gaddafi Stadium, in Lahore on 3rd September.

This year’s Asia Cup will be the 16th edition of the tournament, with matches to be played as One Day Internationals (ODIs). It will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Six teams will take part.

Originally, the tournament was scheduled to take place in 2021, but it was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For fans across the country, Ariana Television (ATN) will broadcast all the matches live each day starting at 1:30 pm on Wednesday August 30. Live matches will be broadcast daily through to the final, which will take place in Colombo on September 17.

Six teams will take part in this year’s tournament – three teams in two groups. India, Nepal, and Pakistan are in Group A; while Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in Group B.

Afghanistan’s first match in the Group Stage will be on September 3 in Lahore, Pakistan, against Bangladesh. The team will then play Sri Lanka, also in Lahore, on September 5.

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Afghanistan squad for the Asia Cup 2023

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hasan, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Akhil, Gulbdain Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, S Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, S Safi, Fazallahq Farooqi.