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Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on August 5 named their preliminary 22-member squad for the upcoming ACC T20 Asia Cup 2025. Rashid Khan will continue to lead Afghanistan in T20Is despite concerns regarding his form after he skipped the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025.
"Rashid Khan is Afghanistan's superstar player. He has always done it for the team. Being in form or out of form, that's a part of game but he knows very well how to come back stronger and perform in major events for the team and the country," Mir Mubariz, ACB's selection committee member, told Cricbuzz.
Mubraiz said that there will be a two-week preparation camp before the squad heads to UAE for tri-series, featuring the hosts and Pakistan. It will work as a preparatory series for the T20 Asia Cup. He listed out the inclusions and the strength in the pace attack of the Afghanistan squad going into the tournament.
"We will probably go with these 22 players to the upcoming Asia Cup, but there might be changes in case of injury, and we will take care of such issues with the passage of time," he said.
"We have a great bunch of pacers. We have included Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad, and Salim Safi is also returning after an injury. So, they all have the ability to bowl around 140."
Mubraiz lauded Afghanistan’s greatest strength in white-ball cricket, their spin attack. He also talked about the new additions to the team. He said that the final squad for the T20 Asia Cup will be decided after the tri-series.
"The whole world knows Afghanistan has got the best spin unit, with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb, Mohammad Nabi, and Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar. We have also added Nangyal Kharoti and Sharafuddin Ashraf, particularly Sharafuddin Ashraf, who has been doing great in domestic cricket for the last few years and was the Player of the Tournament in the Shpageeza 2025.
“We have added a number of new guys such as top-order batter Wafiullah Tarakhil who was great in domestic events and was part of our A team too. Two pacers Abdullah Ahmadzai who is part of the preparation camp for the first time and Bashir Ahmad who have played with our A team. They are the future of Afghanistan. After the tri-nation series and the camps, the coach, captain, and the selection committee will all decide together whom to go with for the Asia Cup," he added.
Afghanistan will play the opening match of the tournament on September 9 against Hong Kong at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. They have been placed in Group B alongside Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan's 22-member preliminary squad:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharoti, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Zadran, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Farid Malik, Saleem Safi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad.
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