Afghanistan Drop Ibrahim Zadran from ODI Squad; Rashid Khan Returns

Afghanistan has announced their squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa in Sharjah, with notable changes including the exclusion of opener Ibrahim Zadran and the return of Rashid Khan from injury.

Ibrahim Zadran, who has been sidelined due to an ankle sprain, has been left out of the squad for this series. Mujeeb ur Rahman also misses out as he has not fully recovered from his injury. Additionally, wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad has been omitted from the squad.

Rashid Khan, who last played an ODI in the 2023 World Cup and missed the one-off Test against New Zealand due to injury, returns to the squad for the series against South Africa. This will be the first bilateral ODI series between the two nations.

The squad also includes three uncapped players: Bilal Sami, Darwish Rasooli, and Abdul Malik. While Rasooli has played seven T20Is and Malik has participated in two Tests, Sami has yet to represent Afghanistan in any format.

Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik