Afghanistan name Ghazanfar to replenish spin reserves with Ibrahim Zadran and allrounder Sharafuddin Ashraf named.
At the forthcoming men’s T20 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, Rashid Khan will command a dangerous Afghanistan team that includes Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, and Mohammad Nabi, who together constitute a potent spin-bowling attack.
Afghanistan, the second-best Asian team at the most recent men’s T20 World Cup after champions India, hasn’t participated in any international cricket since the Champions Trophy in February and hasn’t played a T20I since the beginning of 2025.
In reality, they have only participated in three Twenty20 Internationals in the past 12 months, defeating Zimbabwe 2-1 in a series played in Harare in December 2024. Prior to the Asia Cup, they will begin a triangular Twenty20 International series in Sharjah on Friday against the hosts, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.
Left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote has been placed in the reserves, while batting all-rounder Zubaid Akbari and top-order dasher Hazratullah Zazai have been omitted from the team that travelled to Zimbabwe. The mystery spinner Ghazanfar, who hasn’t made his T20I debut in his brief career, all-rounder Sharafuddin Ashraf, and top-order batsman Ibrahim Zadran will be joining.
Since making his T20 debut in April 2023, Ghazanfar has participated in 42 matches to date. However, his 11-match ODI career has been nothing short of remarkable. He has already taken five wickets at the age of 19, with his best being a 6 for 26 against Bangladesh in Sharjah in November. He has been competing in the IPL, CPL, and ILT20 as part of the franchise T20 circuit. After being selected by the Mumbai Indians for INR 4.80 crore (about US$ 570,000 at the time), he suffered a back injury late last year during the tour of Zimbabwe, which prevented him from making his IPL debut earlier this year.