The 25-year-old leg spinner Rashid Khan will miss the first Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe as he is occupied with personal commitments.
As per report published by Cricbuzz, the leg spinner also celebrates his charity event organized in a few days, thus making him unavailable for the first Test of December 26 at Bulawayo. He is, however, expected to join for the second Test beginning January 2, 2025.
He is said to have been off Test cricket since March 2021 due to several injuries: firstly, from playing against Afghanistan during a recent Test series without completing because of injury and resting from efforts on behalf of the national team that included much longer red-ball season cancellations, after which back injuries left him with a recommended pause on red cricket, forcing him to miss what would have been red-ball outings with the national team.
Rashid then missed the next Test assignments of Afghanistan against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland due to rest and injury.
Due to their impressive performances in the domestic first-class games, left-arm spinner Zahir Shehzad and left-arm fast-bowler Bashir Ahmad Afghan have also been added to the team. The Afghanistan Test squad is comprised of seven uncapped players, which also includes Azmatullah Omarzai, Fareed Ahmad Malik, and Riaz Hassan.
Nasir Jamal, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, and Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai are the three reserve players included in the pool for the series. Afghanistan has previously earned the honor of winning three Test matches, including one contest against Zimbabwe in 2021.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Ikram Alikhail (WK), Afsar Zazai (WK), Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ismat Alam, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Zahir Shehzad, Rashid Khan, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Naveed Zadran, and Fareed Ahmad Malik.
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