Mohammad Nabi left out as Afghanistan name squad for Ireland ODIs

KABUL: The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Friday announced a 15-member squad for its men's team's five-match away ODI series against Ireland, scheduled to run from August 7 to 15.

41-year-old all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, who has represented Afghanistan in 178 ODIs, was the most notable absentee from the touring side's squad for the Ireland tour, which will mark middle-order batter Rahmat Shah's first assignment as their longer-format captain.

Although the ACB did not specify the reason behind Nabi's exclusion, it came after his recent struggles in the format. The 41-year-old could only register one half-century in his previous 11 innings, while has only six wickets in past eight appearances.

Besides Nabi, Fareed Malik and Bilal Sami also failed to retain their spots in the Afghanistan squad, comprising 16 players, that toured India for a three-match ODI series last month and suffered a 3-0 whitewash.

Since Afghanistan also shrank their squad to 15 players for the Ireland tour, they brought in Fazalhaq Farooqi and Yamin Ahmadzai for the excluded trio of Nabi, Fareed and Bilal.

It is pertinent to mention that the ODI series between Ireland and Afghanistan will get underway on August 5, with the opening match scheduled to be played at the Bready Cricket Ground in Magheramason, which will also host the subsequent fixture on August 7.

The series will then move to Belfast, where all three remaining matches will be played on August 10, 12, and 15, respectively.

Afghanistan squad for ODI series against Ireland

Rahmat Shah (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil, Nangyal Kharotai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Saleem Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Zia ur Rahman Sharifi.