Afghanistan coming to Bangladesh sans Rashid

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Wednesday named a 15-man squad for the forthcoming one-off Test against Bangladesh without their star leg-spinner Rashid Khan.

Rashid has been struggling with an injury. He couldn’t take part in the first two One-Day Internationals (ODI) of the three-match series against Sri Lanka.

He did play in the third ODI on Wednesday, but the ACB chose not to include him in the squad.

Wrist spinner Nur Ahmed, who impressed in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was also not named in the squad, meaning the Afghans are coming to Dhaka with a relatively inexperienced bowling attack.

Left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, left-arm wrist spinner Zahir Khan and uncapped 19-year-old leg-spinner Izharullah Haq Naveed will form the Afghanistan spin attack against Bangladesh.

The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team will arrive in Dhaka on 10 June. After a three-day training camp, the one-off Test will begin at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 14 June.

After the Test, the Afghanistan team will return home. However, next month the Afghan team will return to Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series and two Twenty20s.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Afsar Zazai (wk), Ikram Alikhail (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Zahir Khan, Izharulhaq Naweed, Hamza Hotak, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Yamin Ahmadzai and Nijat Masoud

Bangladesh: Liton Das (c), Tamim Iqbal, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain, Musfik Hasan