Afghanistan became the latest side to name their squad for the upcoming 2019 ICC World Cup in England with Gulbadin Naib set to lead the 15-man side.
Asghar Afghan has made the cut for the 15-man squad despite being removed from the Afghanistan captaincy across all three formats just recently.
There was a recall for pacer Hamid Hassan who last played an ODI for Afghanistan nearly three years ago on June, 2016. The 31-year-old has previously played 32 ODIs and 22 T20s for Afghanistan where he has picked up 56 and 32 wickets respectively.
“Luckily for us, the come-back of senior Fast bowler Hamid Hassan is a good news. However, we will take into account his form and fitness during upcoming practice matches,” Afghanistan chief selector Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai stated.
The final teams for the World Cup was selected after a 23-man probable squad was put through a training camp held at Potchefstroom in South Africa. Three of the players who failed to make the final cut – Ikram Ali, Sayed Shirzad and Karim Janat – have been designated as the reserve players for the World Cup squad.
“As chief selector, it is my duty to select a competitive team. However, there were some challenges that we needed to handle. We selected the best squad considering factors such as experience, fitness, team balance, current form and conditions,” said Dawlat Khan.
“We hope to play great cricket without any fear and with a fighting spirit in the tournament.”
Afghanistan are slated to open their World Cup campaign on June 1 when they take on five-time champions Australia.
AFGHANISTAN 15-MAN WORLD CUP SQUAD
Gulbadin Naib (C), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, CRashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan and Mujeeb ur Rahman.
