Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on August 17 announced their squad for Asian Games 2026. Darwish Rasooli has been named captain of the side. Several senior players including Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai and others are missing from the squad.
The squad includes six players who starred in Afghanistan's Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL) including Mohammad Akram, Khalid Taniwal, Ismal Alam, Faisal Shinozada, Hassan Eisakhil (Mohammad Nabi’s son), and Arab Gul Momand.
Experienced players Najibullah Zadran and Karim Janat have returned to the 15-member squad as well.
Rasooli had captained Afghanistan in November 2025 during their tour of Qatar. On his T20I captaincy debut, Rasooli had scored a 37-ball 66 in Afghanistan's 25-run win over Qatar in Doha, the only T20I.
The Asian Games (cricket) is scheduled to be played from September 24 to October 3. Just a week before, a full-strength Afghanistan side will go up against India in a three-T20I series at Delhi's Arjun Jaitley Stadium. The T20I series will be played from September 13 to 17.
Afghanistan’s squad for Japan Asian Games 2026
Darwish Rasooli (c), Mohammad Ishaq (wk), Mohammad Akram, Hassan Eisakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Imran Mir, Faisal Khan Shinozada, Najibullah Zadran, Farmanullah Safi, Ismat Alam, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai, and Abdullah Ahmadzai.
How Afghanistan performed in previous Asian Games?
In the previous edition of Asian Games, Gulbadin Naib-led Afghanistan went up against Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India in the final. Afghanistan were 112/5 after 18.2 overs when rain played spoilsport and the game was washed out.
While the game was abandoned, India won the gold medal whereas Afghanistan had to settle for a silver. India were awarded the gold medal as they were seeded higher in the tournament. India were also the no.1 ranked team in the ICC T20I rankings.
Earlier, in the semifinal, Afghanistan had beaten Pakistan by four wickets. Pakistan were bowled out for 115 in 18 overs. Afghanistan chased down the target with four wickets in hand and 2.1 overs to spare.
On the other hand, India beat Bangladesh by nine wickets with 11 overs to spare. Saif Hassan led side were able to post 96/9 as R Sai Kishore took three wickets for 12 runs from four overs. Tilak Varma starred in the run chase with an unbeaten 26-ball 55 featuring six sixes.