Naveen Ul-Haq for Afghanistan - (Source : AFP)
In a significant development, Afghanistan cricket has suffered a massive blow as their star seamer Naveen Ul Haq has been ruled out of the Asia Cup 2025. The right-arm seamer was suffering from a shoulder injury for a long time, but has failed to recover in time to feature in the ongoing tournament.
The Afghanistan cricket board took to Twitter to announce Naveen's departure and also named Fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai as his replacement.
Afghanistan Cricket Board Issues Statement
"Afghanistan's veteran fast bowler, Naveen Ul Haq, has been ruled out of the ACC Men's T20 Asia Cup 2025. He is still recovering from a shoulder injury and has not been declared fit by the ACB medical team to participate in the remaining matches. Naveen will continue to undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation until he is fully fit," Afghanistan Board tweeted.
"Fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai, who was previously in the reserves and recently made his international debut, has been promoted to the main squad for the Asia Cup 2025. The ACB wishes Naveen Ul Haq a speedy recovery and extends its best wishes to Abdullah Ahmadzai for the matches ahead," read the tweet.
Naveen's injury has come at the wrong time for Afghanistan as they have lost their opening game and are all set to face Bangladesh in their second match on Tuesday, September 16.
Naveen's Recent Outings For Afghanistan
Talking about Naveen Ul Haq, the right-arm seamer has not played any competitive cricket since MLC 2025, where he took eight wickets in five innings. Further, for Afghanistan, Naveen is yet to play a solitary match in 2025, and his last appearance was back in December 2024 against Zimbabwe, where he took 8 wickets in just three innings.
Thus, Naveen's absence will be a big loss for the Afghans as they are in dire need of a win.
Afghanistan's Updated Squad
Afghanistan squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Allah Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Farid Malik, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
