Afghanistan suffer major setback ahead of Pakistan ODIs

Afghanistan team suffered a major setback ahead of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, which begins today in Hambantota.

Middle-order batter Najibullah Zadran has been ruled out of the series due to a knee injury and will be replaced by Shahidullah.

Zadran is a key player in the Afghanistan team, having played 88 ODI matches over the course of his career. He has an average of 30.04 and strike-rate of 89.42 in 50-over cricket with the help of a hundred and 15 fifties.

Meanwhile, Shahidullah has only played a solitary ODI which came against the Netherlands in January 2022 in Doha.

The series will give both teams a chance to prepare for the Asia Cup, which begins on August 30.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have locked horns in four ODIs in the past with the former winning all of them. The two sides last faced each other in the format in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Series Schedule

22 Aug – First ODI, Hambantota

24 Aug – Second ODI, Hambantota

26 Aug – Third ODI, Colombo

Squads

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Shahidullah, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi and Wafadar Momand.