• Source:JND
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Afghanistan vs New Zealand One-off Test: Afghanistan have announced a 20-member preliminary squad for the one-off Test match against New Zealand scheduled to be played in September.

Star all-rounder Rashid Khan has been rested for Afghanistan's ninth Test match which will be played in Greater Noida, India from September 9 to 13.

Rashid recently was ruled out of The Hundred on August 12 due to a hamstring injury. Despite playing a couple of matches in the recently concluded Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL) 2024, the all-rounder is yet to recover fully to take the load of Test cricket.

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Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the side in the absence of Rashid's absence.

"Rashid was injured recently. He was given three to four weeks rest and although he played number of Shpageeza T20 matches, for longer format he is not healthy enough( to take the load)," Sayed Naseem Sadaat, spokesperson of ACB, said on Monday.

"That's why we will be waiting for him and we hope he will return for the three-match ODI series against South Africa," he said.

The 25-year-old Rashid has 34 wickets to his name in five red-ball matches played so far.

He last played a Test match for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi in March 2021 where he picked up a total of 11 wickets.

Apart from Rashid, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Karim Janat were also not included in the squad while the likes of Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib, and Azmatullah Omarzai were included.

The 20-member squad will leave for India on August 28 and attend a one-week preparation camp in Greater Noida.

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"20 players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness," Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector of ACB said in a statement on Monday.


Afghanistan’s squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad, and Yama Arab.