Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board
Afghanistan Cricket Board’s Selection Committee today finalized the Afghanistan U19 Squad for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024, which is scheduled to begin on January 19 in South Africa.
Afghanistan Future Stars’ regular skipper Naseer Khan is expected to recover in time and is set to lead the team at the mega event, with the wicket-keeper batter Numan Shah being appointed as his deputy.
Top-order batter Ali Ahmad Nasar has been recalled to the squad after missing the recently held ACC U19 Men’s Asia Cup 2024, whereas the opening batter Hassan Eisakhil, the right-arm leg-spinner Arab Gul Momand and the right-arm fast bowler Zahid Afghan are included in the Afghanistan Squad after featuring at the Youth Tri-Series last week in Johannesburg.
Naseeb Khan, the ACB CEO highlighted the team’s preparation and expressed his optimism for the team to do well in the event and make the nation proud. “The team has been part of two major events in the last month as well as has been engaged in extreme training camps over the past six months in the buildup for this mega event. We hope that the team will do well and repeat their success from the previous edition of the World Cup. We wish the team success in the upcoming event.” He added.
Afghanistan Squad for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024:
Naseer Khan (Captain), Numan Shah (Vice Captain and Wicket-Keeper), Hassan Eisakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Jamshid Zadran, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ali Ahmad Nasar, Sohail Khan Zurmati, Rahimullah Zurmati, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Khalil Ahmad and Zahid Afghan.
Wahidullah Zadran, Nasir Hassan and Usman Shinwari are the three players included in the squad.
Afghanistan has been placed in Pool D of the competition alongside Pakistan, New Zealand and Nepal and will begin their campaign against Pakistan on Saturday, January 20 at the Buffalo Park Cricket Ground in East London, Johannesburg.
Before stepping into the main draw of the event, Afghanistan will face England and South Africa on January 14 & 16 as part of the team’s warmup matches before the start of the main draw of the event.
Super Cola Beverages Manufacturing Company has secured the sponsorship rights of the Afghanistan U19 National Team for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Afghanistan Fixtures at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024:
| Warmup Matches | ||
| Day, Date | Match | Venue |
| Sun, Jan 14 | Afghanistan vs England | ST Stithians, Johannesburg |
| Tue, Jan 16 | Afghanistan vs South Africa | Braamfischer Oval, Johannesburg |
| Group Matches | ||
| Sat, Jan 20 | Afghanistan vs Paksitan | Buffalo Park, East London |
| Tue, Jan 23 | Afghanistan vs New Zealand | Buffalo Park, East London |
| Fri, Jan 26 | Afghanistan vs Nepal | Buffalo Park, East London |
| Tue, Jan 30 – Sat, Feb 03 | Super Six Stage | Benoni, Kimberly, Bloemfontein |
| Tue, Feb 06 – Fri, Feb 09 | Semi Finals | Benoni |
| Sun, Feb 11 | Grand Finale | Benoni |
