Mujeeb Ur Rehman has been recalled to the Afghanistan squad for the three-match Twenty20 International series against India that begins on Thursday, January 11. This is Afghanistan’s first bilateral series in the format against India.
Rashid Khan, the regular T20I captain, has also been included in the squad, but the leg-spinner is unlikely to feature in the series due to his ongoing recovery from back surgery.
The 22-year-old Ibrahim Zadran has been picked to stand-in as captain during the India series, which will also be the last fixtures for both teams before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in the US and West Indies in February. Ibrahim also led the side in the 2-1 series win against the UAE that finished on January 2.
While Mujeeb did not play in the UAE, he appeared for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board withdrew its No-Objection Certificate causing the 22-year-old to be pulled out of the tournament. This is also the 22-year-old’s first T20I series since 2-0 loss to Bangladesh back in July 2023.
The wicketkeeper-batter Ikram Alikhil has also been called up from the reserves as a backup option for regular keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The first match will be played in Mohali with the second and third matches to be played in Indore and Bengaluru on January 14 and 17 respectively.
Afghanistan squad:
Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan.