Rashid Khan has been rested for the upcoming one-off Test against Bangladesh, with the Afghanistan Cricket Board naming a 15-man squad that includes three uncapped players – pacer Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Nijat Masoud, and young legspinner Izharulhaq – for the June 14 match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Rashid’s missing was unexpected given that he took 11 wickets in the last Test between the two countries, helping Pakistan to a historic victory over the hosts in Chattogram, Bangladesh, in 2019.
Rashid recently skipped the first two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Sri Lanka, but returned for the final match, which his team lost. Afghanistan assistant coach Raees Ahmadzai verified to CricAdvisor on Wednesday (June 7) that Rashid was rested for the solitary Test match against Bangladesh because he had played too much non-stop cricket and the team did not want to take a risk with him given his back injury.
They are curious to see how their new spin prodigy Izharulhaq handled the pressure of international cricket, according to Ahmadi.
Mediocre bowling Karim Janat, an all-rounder who recently competed in the Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament and won best player of the tournament honors for his outstanding all-around performance, has also been called up to the team.
Afghanistan Squad for the one-off test against Bangladesh:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Afsar Zazai (WK), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Zahir Khan, Izharulhaq Naweed, Hamza Hotak, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Yamin Ahmadzai and Nijat Masoud.
Zia ur Rahman Akbar, Noor Ali Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Sayed Ahmad Shirzad comprise the tour’s standby squad.
