Afghanistan have called Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai back into the squad after a long break. Shahzad is making his comeback after 1.5 years as his last T20 appearance was in November 2021 against the Kiwis in the T20 World Cup.
Shahzad has been brought back due to his recent performances in the domestic circuit. The squad was announced on Sunday, and players like Afsar Zazai, Usman Ghani, Sharafuddin Ashraf, and former captain Gulbadin Naib left-out of the squad for the 2 T20I match series against Bangladesh which will take part on 14 and 16 July.
The 36-year-old has appeared in 70 T20I matches and has scored 2015 runs with an average of 30.07. In his T20 career, he has smashed 12 half-centuries and a maiden century. The Afghanistan cricket team is currently in Chittagong and will begin the tour with 3-match ODI series against the Tigers, all the ODI matches will be played in the port city on 5, 8, and 11 July.
“We brought Shahzad as we feel that we should have an attacking batter as a backup for the opening slot because anything can happen in cricket. He is currently the best option and he also performed very well in the domestic tournament. He shows that he is ready for T20Is and we are starting the process now for the next T20 World Cup and we will see the players on typical roles and later we will decide,” Asadullah was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“We brought Momand because he has a very good pace and showed that in camps and domestic cricket. As I said before, we are looking at the players so that we can decide regarding the final squad for the World Cup,” he added.
Wafadar Momand is an uncapped T20 and ODI player who got his maiden call-up for the T20 series along with Sediqullah Atal, who recently made his T20 debut in Sharjah against Pakistan.
Afghanistan Squad for T20I series vs Bangladesh: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Shehzad, Wafadar Momand, Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq.
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