Squad touring Sri Lanka for the super League ODI series have been announced by the cricket board. The side looks pretty much balanced apart from the fast bowling section which doesn’t look threatening apart from Farooqi. Naveen’s name should have been there unless he has made a call to let go the fifty overs format.
It doesn’t look to make any sense by choosing Yamin even as a backup option because we have seen how ordinary he can be on the Bangladesh tour earlier this year. Instead the selectors could’ve gone with someone as raw as Saleem. Farid is known to leak runs apart from picking up a few wickets here & there. In spite of that it seems Malik will get a game or two if any one of Azmat & Gulbadin fails to deliver for the team.
Karim Janat fails to impress the selectors
Four allrounders have been given the nod including the likes of Nabi, Shahidullah, Gulbadin & Azmatullah. Karim Janat unfortunately misses out again in spite of a brilliant first class season. If performance is a key benchmark, Karim should have been there in the squad. Off late he has been getting calls to play the global leagues on a regular basis & I feel his experience would’ve added value especially when Azmatullah is still not looking to deliver.
Nevertheless the spinning unit looks formidable with the presence of Rashid, Mujeeb, Noor & Zia. Would’ve been a tough call to leave out Qais but I feel it’s a wise call. Just to add variety into the spin quartet a left arm orthodox was needed. Zia fulfills that criteria on merit.
Nabi & Najib will have to find their batting form
The batting side looks to be a mix of experience & youth with no major surprises in terms of names. Hashmat would be banking heavily on openers to make things easier for him & Rahmat in the top order. Ikram has been kept as a reserve for Gurbaz. Both Najib & Nabi will have to find their batting form after a disastrous world cup. The success of middle & lower order relies too much on their smart power game.
If we look at current super league standings, Afghanistan is still sitting comfortably at 100 points as compared to both Sri Lanka & South Africa who’re struggling at 62 & 59 points respectively with lesser number of matches to cover up this deficit. Now, if Afghanistan can knock off few matches in this series, it will seal them a direct spot into next year’s cricket world cup without going through the qualifying event in Zimbabwe.
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Zia-Ur-Rehman Akbar, Shahidullah Kamal, Riaz Hassan, Fareed Malik, Yamin Ahmadzai, Ikram Alikhil (Wk)
Nice pick; however, Wafadar Momand should been given an opportunity as the fast gun. His inclusion would have a better impact on the bowling side… Best wishes to you all BlueTigers…. Inshallah you are the victorians