Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan’s experienced all-rounder, has pulled himself out of the 3-match One-Day International series versus the Netherlands in order to give youngsters an opportunity to perform at the highest level. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) released an 18-member lineup for the white-ball matches and picked Hashmatullah Shahidi as the team captain.
Nabi, 37, recently captained Afghanistan in 2021 T20 WC in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under his guidance, the Afghans defeated Scotland and Namibia but were defeated by India, Pakistan, and New Zealand. Nabi, who was born in Logar, chose to take over as captain following Rashid Khan’s step down.
Mohammad Nabi recently appeared for the Melbourne Renegades, captained by Nic Maddinson, in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) for the season 2021-22. Nabi previously played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), formerly captained by Kane Williamson, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, however, he didn’t receive many options to shine.
Nabi’s choice to sit out the game against the Netherlands after Naveen-ul-Haq stepped away from ODIs to concentrate for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. The Afghans have a number of inexperienced ODI players for the forthcoming series in Doha, including Fazal Farooqi, Shahidullah Kamal, and Hassan Riaz.
The 3 one-day internationals will be played at Doha’s West End Park International Cricket Stadium on January 21 (Friday), January 23 (Sunday), and January 25 (Tuesday). The fixtures are component of the ICC World Cup Super League, with the top 7 teams qualifying for the main tournament in India. The Afghans are currently ranked 11th in the points standings.
The Afghans are presently ranked 10th in the ICC ODI rankings. The Netherlands, on the other side, were slated to play 3 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in South Africa, however, the series was called off in the middle owing to the Omicron variant of COVID.
Afghanistan 18-Member Squad: Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Gulbadin Naib, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ikram Ali Khil, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Hassan Riaz, Salim Safi, Shahidullah Kamal, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Usman Ghani, Yamin Ahmadzai
