T20 World Cup 2021: Afghanistan announce 18-man squad for the tournament

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), on September 9, announced an 18-member squad for the impending T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled to be played between October 17 and November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Moments later, however, the team’s skipper Rashid Khan relinquished his captaincy owing to team-selection dispute with the cricketing board, as he took to Twitter to reveal that the ACB selection committee did not take his consent.

“As the captain and responsible person for the nation, I deserve the right to be part of the selection of the team. The selection committee and ACB have not obtained my consent for the team which has been announced by ACB media. I am taking the decision of stepping down from the role as captain of the Afghanistan T20 side effective immediately,” Rashid wrote on his official Twitter account.

Rashid was appointed skipper of the T20I team in July this year, when he expressed his hesitancy to take up the role owing to the inevitable pressures of captaincy. Although, he later accepted the offer. Meanwhile, the 18-man party records comebacks of Zadrans, Shapoor and Dawlat, alongside Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Shahzad, while the team has two reserves in Afsar Zazai, Farid Ahmad Malik.

Afghanistan cricket has been in the midst of turbulence owing to the Taliban’s insurgence in the nation, which has also pushed the national women team’s future in limbo. Further, there is a potential threat of derecognition by ICC looming over the ACB owing to the uncertain future of the Afghanistan women team, which continues to be on the axe under Taliban rule.

The apex cricket board has been constantly monitoring the situation in Afghanistan over the last month, however, the current developments inspire little confidence.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan, who last played T20Is against Zimbabwe under Asghar Afghan in March this year, start their 2021 T20 World Cup campaign on 25th October in Sharjah.

At this critical stage, I admire the decision of ACB for the announcement of leading the National Cricket Team in T20 Format. InshaAllah together we will present a great picture of the Nation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

— Mohammad Nabi (@MohammadNabi007) September 9, 2021

Afghanistan squad for T20 World Cup 2021

Rashid Khan, Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen Ul Haq, Hamid Hassan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmad.

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Farid Ahmad Malik.