Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on September 15 (Thursday) announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Veteran all-rounder, who is No. 2 in the rankings, Mohammad Nabi will lead the team as he did in the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022. Several players, who were part of the country's Asia Cup squad, have been left out of the T20 World Cup squad.
Darwish Rasooli, Qais Ahmad and Salim Safi will travel Down Under with the national team while Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad miss out.
Afghanistan will start their T20 World Cup campaign against England on October 22.
"The Asia Cup was a very good opportunity for the team to buildup things nicely for the much-important global event in Australia," Chief selector Noor Malikzai said.
"Fortunately, Darwish Rasooli has recovered from injury (broken finger) and we are happy to have him available for the WT20, he has demonstrated good glimpses of him in the previously held Shpageeza Cricket League 2022 and offers an additional batting option to our middle order.
"Since the Australian conditions offer further support for the fast bowlers, so we have added Salim Safi, the tall right-arm quick to add further impetus to our bowling department. Overall we have picked our best available players for the event and we are hopeful of them to do well and better represent the country in the mega event."
Afghanistan's T20 World Cup 2022 schedule:
October 22: Afghanistan vs England, Perth
October 26: Afghanistan vs New Zealand, Melbourne
October: 28: Afghanistan vs TBA, Melbourne
November 01: Afghanistan vs TBA, Brisbane
November 04: Afghanistan vs Australia, Adelaide
Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2022 Squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani
Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib
