Afghanistan has included a fit-again Ibrahim Zadran in their 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, despite ongoing calls for teams to boycott matches against them due to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since taking power in 2021.
Opener Zadran returns after recovering from ankle surgery, but the team opted not to rush spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman back into action following a hand injury last year. Spinner AM Ghazanfar has been brought in as a like-for-like replacement for Mujeeb.
In a move to bolster their preparations, Afghanistan has enlisted former Pakistan captain Younis Khan as a mentor. This will mark Afghanistan’s debut in the Champions Trophy, a tournament featuring the top eight ODI teams in the world.
“Afghanistan has delivered exceptional performances in the past two ICC events,” Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman Mirwais Ashraf said in a statement. “These successes, along with last year’s ODI series victories, will undoubtedly boost the team’s confidence and help them perform even better this time.”
Led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, the team may face external pressures during the tournament. Group B opponents England and South Africa have been urged to boycott matches against Afghanistan, but both the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have dismissed such calls. They emphasized that decisions regarding boycotts should be unified and agreed upon by all ICC members.
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Afghanistan will kick off their campaign against South Africa in Karachi on February 21.
Afghanistan Squad:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik
