Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan is ready to wear national colours after missing a long period of on-field delights. He withdrew himself from the Pakistan Super League’s ongoing edition (PSL 2024) and was not part of Afghanistan’s fixtures before that.
As the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), on Tuesday, revealed the squad for the three-match T20I series versus Ireland, the fans will be delighted to witness Rashid in action after a long gap.
Notably, he has been away from cricket since the World Cup in India in November 2023 and missed the subsequent series against India. Although the spinner travelled with the team but was not fully fit to be part of the playing XI. He did not take part in the Big Bash League (BBL 2023-24) and SA20 2024 as well.
Rashid, who underwent surgery, is now declared fit to play. He is excited to represent his country once again after missing a notable portion without cricket. Upon his return, he says,
“The plan is to represent the country in the upcoming series and the training has been underway and thankfully it went well and I hope that the following few days will also be well so that I can wear the national jersey again and continue to do well for my country,”
He further added,
“The last three months were difficult because I had surgery. I had been suffering from a back injury for the last seven to eight months and the doctor had asked me to have surgery even before the World Cup but I decided to play the World Cup and have surgery afterwards because it was such an important event for us but Alhamdulillah I am back on the field and feeling well now and now my focus is on returning to the field and bringing joy and success to the nation,”
It is pertinent to mention that the three T20I against Ireland are scheduled for 15th, 17th, and 18th March and will be played in the UAE.
Afghanistan T20I squad for Ireland series featuring Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediq Atal, Ijaz Ahmadzai, Ishaq Rahimi (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharotai, Azmat Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Wafadar Momand, Farid Malik, Naveen Ul Haq, Fazal Haq Farooqi
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