Afghanistan has named a preliminary squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 event, scheduled to begin from September 09 to 28. Leg spinner Rashid Khan is announced as the leader for the 22-member squad, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz being named as the deputy. The Continental Cup will be played in Dubai & Abu Dhabi.
The Afghans will have a two-week training camp in the UAE ahead of the tri-nation T20I series involving Pakistan & UAE before the Continental Cup event. The preliminary squad will be trimmed from 22 to 15 for the Asia Cup as well as the tri-series. The Rashid Khan-led side is placed in Group B.
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They will kick off the Continental Cup campaign against Hong Kong on September 9, followed by games against Bangladesh (September 16) and Sri Lanka (September 18), all games set to be played in Abu Dhabi.
Afghanistan names a strong spin-based squad for the Asia Cup & Tri-series
Sticking to their strengths, Afghanistan have named a strong spin squad for the Continental Cup & the preceding tri-series. Over the years, the Afghans have taken a lot of pride in stifling their opponents with a spin choke. Along with Rashid Khan, the squad boasts of other quality spinners like Allah Ghazanfar and Noor Ahmad. Both these young spinners have managed to trouble even strong teams with their mystery element.
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Noor performed extremely well for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season, while Ghazanfar has managed to impress in his brief career in white-ball formats. With the pitches in Dubai & Abu Dhabi set to aid spin more, the trio of Rashid, Noor, & Ghazanfar will prove to be a handful if the teams fail to dominate them.
Afghanistan Preliminary Squad
Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharoti, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Zadran, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Farid Malik, Saleem Safi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad.
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