Right-handed batter Aqil Khan Obaid has been added to Afghanistan’s Under-19 World Cup squad after Hafieezullah Zadran was ruled out of the tournament. Zadran suffered a fracture to his left wrist during Afghanistan’s tournament opener against South Africa and has been declared unfit to take any further part in the competition.
Aqil was already with the team as one of the reserve players, along with Fahim Qasemi and Izat Noor, when the 15-member squad led by Mahboob Khan was announced.
ICC on players' replacement
In an official statement, the ICC confirmed that the Event Technical Committee has approved Aqil Khan Obaid as Zadran’s replacement. The committee said Zadran picked up the injury during Afghanistan’s win over South Africa and will miss the rest of the tournament. The ICC also noted that any player replacement must be cleared by the Event Technical Committee before being made official.
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The committee includes Wasim Khan, the ICC’s General Manager of Cricket, Sarah Edgar from the ICC events team, Zimbabwe Cricket’s tournament director Hamilton Masakadza, and former England cricketer Tash Farrant as an independent member.
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How Afghanistan qualified for the Under-19 World Cup?
Afghanistan qualified for the Under-19 World Cup by winning the Asia Qualifier last year, where they went unbeaten. They finished ahead of Nepal on net run rate to seal their spot. Later in the year, Afghanistan again defeated Nepal in the Under-19 Asia Cup, with Uzairullah Niazai playing a key role. Niazai also impressed on the tour of Bangladesh, scoring 275 runs across four innings.
How Afghanistan performed so far in World Cup?
The Under-19 World Cup began on January 15, and Afghanistan have played one match so far, beating South Africa by 28 runs. They will next take on the West Indies on Sunday before wrapping up their group-stage matches against Tanzania on January 21.