Afghanistan's star leg-spinner Rashid Khan is set to make his return to ODI cricket for the first time since the World Cup held in October-November of last year. He has been included in Afghanistan’s 17-man squad for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa in the UAE.
Despite Rashid's comeback, Afghanistan will still be without the services of mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who is recovering from a finger injury. Wristspinner Noor Ahmad has also been left out of the squad. Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil, Afghanistan’s chief selector, confirmed that offspinner AM Ghazanfar, who made his ODI debut earlier this year in March, will step in for Mujeeb during the series against South Africa.
Rashid’s return is a significant boost to the squad, helping to compensate for the absence of Mujeeb and Noor. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) stated that Rashid had been ruled out of the current Test match against New Zealand due to an "ongoing injury" and will only return to red-ball cricket once medically cleared. Since undergoing back surgery after the World Cup, Rashid was sidelined for four months, missing several series, including those against the UAE, India, Sri Lanka, and Ireland. Additionally, he had to withdraw from franchise tournaments like the BBL, PSL, and SA20. He finally made his return during the T20Is against Ireland in March this year.
Since his recovery, Rashid has participated only in T20 matches, including the IPL, T20 World Cup, Major League Cricket (MLC), the Hundred, and Afghanistan's domestic T20 competition, the Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL). Unfortunately, he encountered further injury setbacks, including a hamstring injury during the Hundred and recurring back issues during the SCL, which limited his playing time.
The squad for the South Africa series also includes uncapped medium pacer Bilal Sami, along with top-order batters Darwish Rasooli and Abdul Malik. While Rasooli has represented Afghanistan in T20Is and Malik in Test matches, Sami is yet to make his debut in any format. Malik was called up to cover for opening batter Ibrahim Zadran, who continues to recover from an ankle injury that sidelined him during the Test against New Zealand and now the ODIs against South Africa.
The ODI series, which begins on September 18, will be hosted in Sharjah. This marks the first bilateral ODI series between Afghanistan and South Africa, with their previous encounters only occurring during the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.
For Afghanistan, the series serves as important preparation ahead of the Champions Trophy next year, for which they qualified by finishing sixth in the league stage of the 2023 World Cup.
Afghanistan squad for South Africa ODIs
Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad.