ICC World Cup 2019 Afghanistan Squad: The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has finally declared the 15-man squad for the most anticipated approaching World Cup, which is scheduled to start on Thursday, May 30 in England and Wales. This year world cup tournament is going to be the 12th edition, commencing from 30th May 2019 to 14th July 2019. England and Wales are going to be the host country for 2019 Cricket World Cup.
The Afghans are believed as one of the dark horses of the 50-overs mega tournament and are all set to show their opening match against Australia at the County Ground in Bristol on June 1, Saturday. The first match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is going to be held at The Oval cricket stadium in London while the final will be held at Lord’s cricket stadium in London.
The final squad of Afghanistan team has been carefully chosen from the 23-member probable that took part in the training camp which was held in Potchefstroom, South Africa. According to the selection committee, the selection procedure was held on the basis of performances and fitness of the players from the last six months.
The squad for the competition is going to be captained by all-rounder Gulbadin Naib. A few weeks ago Asghar Afghan was dismissed as the captain from all the three formats and Naib was titled as the new skipper. Rashid Khan and Rahmat Shah were chosen as the new T20I and Test captain correspondingly.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 comprised of total numbers of ten teams which are going to compete with each other in order to move on to next stage. There are going to be the total number of 45 matches and this similar format was earlier used in the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Most of the other teams have already given out their list of names of their squads. Each team has to compete with the other 9 teams and the top 4 teams will have a face-off in semi-finals. The two teams that win the semi-final round will go for the final face-off and the winner of the final round will take the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 championship trophy and the title to their homeland.
Talking about the Afghanistan squad, it doesn’t have Shapoor Zadran, the amazing left-arm fast bowler, who was a part of Afghanistan’s maiden win in the World Cup against Scotland in the year 2015. Hamid Hasan, an additional speedster, who previously played a limited-overs international match way back in July 2016 against Ireland in Belfast, put on his claim back into the national setup.
Chief Selector, Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai stated, “As chief selector, It is my duty to select a competitive team. However, there were some challenges that we needed to handle. We selected the best squad considering factors such as experience, fitness, team balance, current form, and conditions,”
He further added, “We hope to play great cricket without any fear and with a fighting spirit in the tournament. The final decision has been made based on many facts and considerations. I would like to thank all those who continue to support our national heroes.”
Here is the squad of Afghanistan
Gulbadin Naib (C), Mohammad Shahzad (WK), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
