Afghanistan have omitted left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi and allrounders Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat from their ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming white-ball series against Bangladesh in the UAE.
Tall left-arm pacer Bashir Ahmad has earned his maiden call-up to both squads as a like-for-like replacement for Farooqi. The 20-year-old is uncapped at international level but has featured in 14 T20 matches, picking up 12 wickets at an economy rate of 9.06.
Also earning a debut call-up is top-order batter Wafiullah Tarakhil, included in the T20I squad after an impressive run in the recent Shpageeza Cricket League, where he was the third-highest run-scorer with 298 runs at an average of 37.25 and a strike rate of 155.20.
Fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai, part of the reserves during the Asia Cup, returns to the main T20I side. Spinner AM Ghazanfar, meanwhile, is part of the ODI squad but only a reserve for the T20Is. Veteran batter Rahmat Shah is in a similar position, serving as vice-captain in the ODI side and a reserve in the T20I squad.
“After a long six-month break from international cricket following the ICC Champions Trophy, we are now entering a packed season with many T20I games scheduled,” said ACB CEO Naseeb Khan. “This provides the team with an incredible opportunity to prepare for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next year.
“The performances in the Asia Cup 2025 were not as expected, but ups and downs are part of the game. As always, we remain hopeful that AfghanAtalan will bounce back strongly and make our nation proud in the upcoming events.”
Despite Ghazanfar’s exclusion from the main T20I squad, Afghanistan have considerable spin depth with Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi in both squads. The ODI side, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, includes a similar spin-heavy composition, with Rashid, Nabi, Ghazanfar and Nangeyalia Kharote likely to be key in Abu Dhabi.
The three-match T20I series will take place in Sharjah on October 2, 3 and 5. The teams will then move to Abu Dhabi for the ODIs on October 8, 10 and 14. This series concludes the rescheduled bilateral engagement that was initially planned as an all-format tour in July 2024. Only the ODIs were played in November 2024, with Afghanistan winning that leg 2-1.
Afghanistan lost their most recent international encounter with Bangladesh by eight runs in a T20I during the Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi.
Afghanistan T20I squad:
Rashid Khan (capt), Ibrahim Zadran (vice-capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mohammad Ishaq (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bashir Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Abdullah Ahmadzai.
Reserves: AM Ghazanfar, Rahmat Shah
Afghanistan ODI squad:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote, AM Ghazanfar, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi.
Reserves: Bilal Sami, Faridoon DawoodzaiBangladesh to
