Rashid Khan steps down as Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2021 captain
Rashid Khan steps down as Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2021 captain
September 14, 2021 Author : ch799
On September 9, the Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed an 18-member squad for the next T20
World Cup 2021, held in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.
However, due
to a team-selection dispute with the cricketing body, the team's captain, Rashid Khan,
withdrew his position moments later, taking to Twitter to declare that the ACB selection
committee did not take his approval.
Rashid was named captain of the T20I team in
July of this year, despite expressing reservations about taking on the post due to the
unavoidable expectations of captaincy. However, he did accept the offer
later.
Meanwhile, Zadrans, Shapoor, and Dawlat make comebacks, along with Hamid
Hassan and Mohammad Shahzad, and the team has two reserves in Afsar Zazai and Farid Ahmad
Malik.
The Taliban's insurgency in Afghanistan has thrown Afghanistan cricket into
disarray, putting the future of the national women's squad in jeopardy. A potential threat
of ICC de-recognition looms over the ACB due to the unclear future of the Afghanistan
women's squad, which is still under Taliban control.
Over the previous month, the
apex cricket authority has been closely following the situation in Afghanistan, but the
recent developments do not encourage confidence.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, which last
played T20Is in March against Zimbabwe under Asghar Afghan, will begin their 2021 T20 World
Cup campaign in Sharjah on October 25.
Afghanistan 18-man squad
Rashid
Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan,
Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Naveen Ul Haq, Dawlat Zadran, Hashmatullah
Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Shapoor Zadran,
Qais Ahmad.
Reserves: Farid Ahmad Malik, Afsar Zazai