Gurbaz included in Afghanistan’s squad for one-off test against Ireland

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Monday announced the nation’s squad for the one-off test match against Ireland that is scheduled to be played from February 28 to March 3 at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been added to the test squad and is expected to be a potential debutant for Afghanistan against Ireland. In addition, a right-arm leg-spinner, Khalil Gurbaz, is expected to provide his leg-break bowling services.

Fast Bowler Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai has also been recalled to the squad after featuring in the Afghanistan squad for the Bangladesh tour in June last year. Yamin Ahmadzai and Mohammad Saleem Safi who were part of Afghanistan’s squad for the Sri Lanka test earlier this month, miss out on the selection due to injuries.

ACB CEO Naseeb Khan stated that Afghanistan carries a rich playing history against Ireland over the past 15 years.

“We have quite a good playing history with Ireland, both countries have played plenty of cricket against each other and have been granted ICC Full Membership at the same time. This will be our second test against them and we are eagerly looking forward to what will be an exciting test match between the two team,” he said.

“We will also be playing tests against Bangladesh, New Zealand (for the first time) and Zimbabwe later in the year, so we are looking forward to building a formidable lineup for the test matches ahead.”

Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil, ACB’s interim Chief Selector said: “The team underwent a 10-day conditioning camp in Abu Dhabi, which featured 22 players and all the support staff to work with the players and ensure full preparation for the series. We have thoroughly monitored the proceedings and have picked the squad which includes several new faces who have excelled well during the recent domestic events.”

Afghanistan Squad for the one-off test against Ireland: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Nijat Masoud, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Naveed Zadran.

This will be Afghanistan’s 9th overall test match and second against Ireland. The one-off test match against Ireland will be followed by 5 more test matches this year, including a two-test home series against Bangladesh and a one-off home test against New Zealand. Afghanistan has previously won three test matches each against Ireland (2019), Bangladesh (2019), and Zimbabwe (2021).