Afghanistan announces preliminary squad for UAE tour

Afghanistan squad announced for UAE [Twitter]

Afghanistan Cricket Board have announced a 22-member preliminary squad for the UAE tour, scheduled to take place in February.

It will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2018, wherein they collided at a 50-over World Cup qualifying game. Afghanistan won that game by 5 wickets and have a great record against UAE in the T20Is as well, winning the last four encounters.

Rashid Khan will lead the Afghan side, and the series is a part of a signed agreement between the two boards.

This is Rashid khan's third stint as the skipper of the Afghanistan team. He led the team back in 2019, and was re-appointed at the same position after Mohammad Nabi stepped down from the post, following the T20 World Cup in Australia.

A conditioning camp will take place in Abu Dhabi, after which the Rashid Khan led side will be cut down to just 17 members. Afghanistan are yet to name their permanent coach, after Umar Gul and Jonathan Trott's contracts were not renewed.

Afghanistan preliminary squad

Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Bilal Sami, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Gulbadin Naib, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Nangyal Kharoti, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Nijat Masoud, Noor Ahmad, Rahmat Shah, Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Zahir Khan.

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