Afghanistan have called up batsmen Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai to their 16-man squad for the two-game Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh later this month.

afghanistan-announce-squad-for-t20i-series-against-bangladesh

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has unveiled its 16-man squad for the upcoming two-game T20I series against Bangladesh, set to begin on July 14 at the Sylhet District Stadium. The squad announcement sees the return of captain Rashid Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Shahzad, adding strength and experience to the Afghan side.

Fast bowler Wafadar Momand, who has yet to win a cap, has also been called up to the squad that will play its games on July 14-16 in the northern Bangladesh city of Sylhet.

Wicketkeeper batsman Shahzad played the last of his 70 T20Is against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates in November 2021, while Zazai missed the recent 2-1 series against Pakistan, also in the United Arab Emirates.

The squad, announced late Sunday, had no place for Afsar Zazai, Usman Ghani, Sharafuddin Ashraf and former national captain Gulbadin Naib, who were part of the Pakistan series in Sharjah in March.

"We have consulted T20I captain Rashid Khan and head coach Jonathon Trott to finalize the squad for the upcoming T20I series," senior international Asadullah Khan said, according to a statement by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

“We have had decent results in T20Is over the last few months and our focus remains on further strengthening our performance in this format. The upcoming series represents a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our skills and continue to achieve our goals in T20 cricket.”

The Afghan cricket team is currently in Chittagong for a three-game One Day International series against Bangladesh.

All three ODIs will be held in the port city on July 5th, 8th and 11th.

Bangladesh won the only Test match of the series in June with a record 546 runs.

Afghanistan T20 Squad for Bangladesh

Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shahzad, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, and Wafadar Momand.