Sport
Farooqi, Naveen back in Afghanistan squad; Mujeeb omitted for series against UAE
Fast bowlers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi are in the squad for the three-match T20I series against UAE, but spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been left out.
This comes after the trio had been sanctioned by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) earlier this week after they expressed a desire to be left out of the central contracts list for 2024.
The ACB had said then that the players were being pulled up for “prioritising their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan”, with the fallout including no no-objection certificates (NOCs) being issued to the trio to play in overseas T20 leagues for the next two years, and a revoking of any NOCs they currently possess.
The ACB also said it “would assess and determine the involvement of these players in [international] events as necessary”.
Now, the board said, Farooqi and Naveen had “approached the ACB and demonstrated a strong desire to represent their country again”.
In a statement announcing the squad, the ACB said it “acknowledged and praised their eagerness to collaborate closely with the [board]”, but the investigation into the matter that the board had ordered would go ahead.
“The ACB directed the relevant committee assigned to the matter to conduct a comprehensive investigation and urged them to communicate their findings and proposed solutions to the board after thoroughly assessing the players’ requests,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, T20I captain Rashid Khan, who had recently undergone back surgery, will miss out on the UAE series. Ibrahim Zadran is standing in for him. However, Rashid travelled with the squad as a reserve.
Mujeeb on the other hand is currently with Melbourne Renegades at the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia. He helped them to their first win of the season on Friday, the same day as the first Afghanistan vs UAE T20I match in Sharjah.
ESPNcricinfo reports that Renegades said after the ACB sanctions that Mujeeb would remain at the BBL for the rest of the season. “The Melbourne Renegades are aware of the matter between Mujeeb Ur Rahman and the Afghanistan Cricket Board,” the Renegades statement had said.
“The club has received no communication that Mujeeb’s availability for the BBL could change from original plans. Mujeeb remains available for the Melbourne Renegades… Mujeeb is a world-class player and a popular member of the squad, and the club will continue to support him for the rest of the BBL season,” the statement read.
Mujeeb, regular on the T20 circuit, was recently picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL auction for USD 241,000. Naveen is with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and Farooqi, retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, recently featured in the Abu Dhabi T10 competition. All three players also featured for Afghanistan at the 2023 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s squad for T20Is vs UAE:
Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mohammad Ishaq (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem and Qais Ahmad
Reserves: Rashid Khan, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Ikram Alikhil and Gulbadin Naib
Competing in their first AFC Futsal Asian Cup, Afghanistan have concluded a fairy tale tournament by edging the Kyrgyz Republic to reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Four second-half goals guided Afghanistan to a 5-3 win and the final 24-strong field for Uzbekistan 2024 is now set.
Unknown at continental level at the start of the month, Afghanistan have scripted one of the great futsal fairy tales by reaching the global showpiece for the very first time.
After raising eyebrows by pushing powerhouse Iran in their opening match and then progressing from the group, the Afghans were involved in a triple Central Asian tangle that ultimately saw them reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Defeat at the hands of Tajikistan in the first of the quarter-finals looked to have marked the end for the daring debutantes only for World Cup hosts Uzbekistan to see off Vietnam in the last of the final eight match-ups to necessitate a play-off to determine the final slot at the sport’s showpiece event.
A 5-3 win against Iraq in the first round of the play-offs set up this winner-takes-all affair with a Kyrgyz Republic outfit also eyeing a maiden World Cup berth.
Settling the better of the two teams, it was a ninth-minute Omid Qanbari effort that sent Afghanistan to the break with a narrow lead; one that they would double nine minutes after the restart as an own goal from Mukhamed Askarbekov made it 2-0.
A frantic ten-minute period then produced six goals but with the Kyrgyz Republic always chasing the match, the Afghans never looked too troubled, with two late, long-range, goals from captain Mahdi Norowzi and Mehran Gholami capping off the impressive 5-3 win.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992.
The current champions are Portugal, who won their first world title after beating the 2016 defending champions Argentina in the final of the 2021 tournament in Lithuania.
Afghanistan qualified for the 2024 Futsal World Cup after 5-3 victory against Kyrgyzstan in the Playoff 3 of AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.
This is the first time that Afghanistan qualifies for the Futsal World Cup.
The tenth edition of Futsal World Cup is scheduled to start on September 14, 2024 in Uzbekistan.
Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament.
Afghanistan, France, New Zealand and Tajikistan will make their debuts.
Mawj Sahil defeated Sarsabz Yashlar 2-1 in the 15th match of Afghanistan Champions League in Kabul on Saturday, while Sorkh Poshan hammered Maiwand 6-0 in the 16th match of the tournament on the same day.
Sanan Rahimi and Esmatullah Hadafmand scored the two goals for Mawj Sahil.
Yashlar’s only goal was scored by Mohammad Nasir Niazi.
Sorkh Poshan’s six goals against Maiwand were scored by Habibullah Hotak (1), Samir Mirzai (1), Hamir Amiri (1), Omid Rajabi (2) and captain Farhad Alizada (1).
Sunday’s matches will see Istiqlal Kabul take on Adalat Farah at 1:00 PM, and Khadim face Jawanan Wahedi at 3:30 PM.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
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