ACB relaxed about Rashid Khan and his poor run of form as they name their preliminary 22-man Asia Cup squad.
According to an Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) official on Tuesday, they are sure that top leg spinner Rashid Khan will return for the forthcoming Asia Cup and are not worried about his form. For the forthcoming Asia Cup, which will take place in the United Arab Emirates from September 9 to 28, ACB released a preliminary squad of 22 players, captained by Rashid.
After an underwhelming season by his standards, in which he took nine wickets at an economy rate of 9.34 and average of 57.11 for Gujarat Titans, Rashid made the decision to not play Major League Cricket for MI New York after the Indian Premier League.
“Rashid Khan is Afghanistan’s superstar player. He has always done it for the team. Being in form or out of form, that’s a part of game but he knows very well how to come back stronger and perform in major events for the team and the country,” Mir Mubariz, ACB’s selection committee member, told.
In addition, Mubariz said the board will hold a two-week training camp prior to playing in the tri-nation T20I series against Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan will concentrate on the Asia Cup after the series, where they were drawn with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong in Group B.
“We have announced a preliminary squad for the preparation camp ahead of the tri-nation series and Asia Cup where the newly-included guys will be checked by both the coaching staff and the captain during the training and preparation camp,” Mubariz said, adding that they are expected to pick their World Cup squad from the 22 members of the preliminary camp unless they have to change their plans due to injuries.
“Yeah, we will probably go with these 22 players to the upcoming Asia Cup, but there might be changes in case of injury, and we will take care of such issues with the passage of time,” he said, taking stock of the pace battery that has been included.
“Yeah, we have a great bunch of pacers. We have included Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad, and Salim Safi is also returning after an injury. So, they all have the ability to bowl around 140.”
“The whole world knows Afghanistan has got the best spin unit, with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb, Mohammad Nabi, and Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar. We have also added Nangyal Kharoti and Sharafuddin Ashraf, particularly Sharafuddin Ashraf, who has been doing great in domestic cricket for the last few years and was the Player of the Tournament in the Shpageeza 2025,” he added.