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Rashid Khan To Miss IPL 2024? No Ace Spinner In AFG Squad For IRE Test; Gurbaz Included

image-lt2x9fkiRashid Khan will be out of action for a while (X.com)

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have unveiled a 16-player squad for their upcoming one-off Test match against Ireland.

Senior spinner Rashid Khan was opted out of the team composition as he is yet to attain full recovery from his lower-back injury. Wicketkeeper-batsman and white-ball specialist Rahmanullah Gurbaz, meanwhile, was named in Afghanistan’s 16-player line-up as a potential Test debutant.


Gurbaz in line for Test debut against Ireland

In the absence of Rashid Khan, the ACB have included an additional spinner in the line-up in the form of Khalil Gurbaz.

Yamin Ahmadzai and Mohammad Saleem Safi, who toured Sri Lanka as part of Afghanistan’s all-format group earlier in February, were both ruled out for Ireland Test owing to their respective injuries.

Hashmatullah Shahidi will continue to lead Afghanistan alongside his deputy Rahmat Shah, and the team features a healthy bunch of senior members and emerging young talents.

Afghanistan’s 16-player squad for the one-off Test against Ireland

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Ikram Alikhail (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Nijat Masoud, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Naveed Zadran.

The one-off Test between Ireland and 'hosts' Afghanistan will be staged at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi between February 28 and March 3.

The much-awaited fixture will be followed by a three-match ODI series and the tour will conclude with a set of three T20I matches, all scheduled to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium until March 18.