Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board
The Afghanistan Cricket Board’s National Selection Committee has finalized the Afghanistan National Team’s Squad for the one-off test match against Ireland that is scheduled to be played from February 28 – March 03 at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been added to the test squad and is expected to be a potential debutant for Afghanistan against Ireland. In addition, a right-arm leg-spinner, Khalil Gurbaz, has been added to the squad to provide his leg-break bowling services. He has had a very good FC record recently and has picked 40 wickets in 17 innings with the Best of 6/125 in an inning.
Fast Bowler Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai has also been recalled to the squad after featuring in the Afghanistan squad for the Bangladesh tour in June last year. Yamin Ahmadzai and Mohammad Saleem Safi who were part of Afghanistan’s squad for the Sri Lanka test earlier this month, miss out on the selection due to injuries.
ACB CEO Mr. Naseeb Khan states that Afghanistan carries a rich playing history against Ireland over the past 15 years. “We have quite a good playing history with Ireland, both countries have played plenty of cricket against each other and have been granted ICC Full Membership at the same time. This will be our second test against them and we are eagerly looking forward to what will be an exciting test match between the two team.” “We will also be playing tests against Bangladesh, New Zealand (for the first time) and Zimbabwe later in the year, so we are looking forward to building a formidable lineup for the test matches ahead.” He added.
Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil, ACB’s interim Chief Selector: “The team underwent a 10-day conditioning camp in Abu Dhabi, which featured 22 players and all the support staff to work with the players and ensure full preparation for the series. We have thoroughly monitored the proceedings and have picked the squad which includes several new faces who have excelled well during the recent domestic events.”
Afghanistan Squad for the one-off test against Ireland: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Nijat Masoud, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Naveed Zadran.
This will be Afghanistan’s 9th overall test match and second against Ireland. The one-off test match against Ireland will be followed by 5 more test matches this year, including a two-test home series against Bangladesh and a one-off home test against New Zealand. Afghanistan has previously won three test matches each against Ireland (2019), Bangladesh (2019), and Zimbabwe (2021).
Etisalat Afghanistan Telecommunication Company holds the title sponsorship, while Super Cola Beverages Manufacturing Company is the Presenting sponsor and Bank-e-Millie Afghan BMA is named as the associate sponsor for Afghanistan’s the all-format series against Ireland.
