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]Afghanistan Announce 15-Player Squad for T20 World Cup 2026, Rashid Khan to Lead
by K D Mishra
Rashid Khan has been appointed as Afghanistan’s captain for the T20 World Cup. On Wednesday, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced a 15-member squad for the tournament, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka. Fazalhaq Farooqi, left-handed fast bowler, and Gulbadin Naib, all-rounder, both made it to the squad as they had been left out of the white-ball tour of Bangladesh in October.
Pace bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, who last played in a T20 match in December 2024 against Zimbabwe, also gets back into the side after overcoming a shoulder injury that had kept him out of the Asia Cup in September.
Mystery spinner A.M. Ghazanfar was named as one of the reserves after the Afghans opted for experienced slow bowler Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The tournament gets underway on the 7th of next month.
"Afghanistan had a fantastic run in the previous T20 World Cup tournament," said Naseeb Khan, the country’s cricket board’s executive officer. "We have wonderful memories in the past and look forward to excellent performance in Asian territory."
Afghanistan qualified for the semi-finals of the last T20 World Cup held in 2024 in the Caribbean and the USA by beating top-ranked nations, including New Zealand, Australia, the West Indies, and Bangladesh.
Rashid Khan’s side will warm up for the tournament with a three-match T20 series against the West Indies from Jan. 19 to 22. Afghanistan is placed in Group D, which includes New Zealand, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada. They will kick-start their mission with an encounter against the Kiwis on Feb. 8.
Afghanistan T20 World Cup Squad (15 players):
Rashid Khan (Captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Ishaq, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Shahidullah Kamal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai.
Reserves:
AM Ghazanfar, Ijaz Ahmadzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi.
