Rashid Khan deemed not completely fit for one-off Test against New Zealand
Afghanistan's ace all-rounder Rashid Khan has not been included in their preliminary 20-man squad for a one-off Test against New Zealand after sustaining a hamstring injury at The Hundred. Rashid returned to action recently in T20 cricket but is not yet ready to manage the red-ball workloads.
Rashid Khan was ruled out of The Hundred after five appearances for the Trent Rockets owing to a pulled hamstring in the game against Southern Brave on August 10 where Kieron Pollard hammered him for five consecutive sixes. Even though the 25-year-old was back on the field just a week later in the Shpageeza Cricket League as captain of Speen Ghar Tigers and has picked six wickets in three outings, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has confirmed he is not yet ready for Test cricket.
"Rashid was injured recently. He was given three to four weeks rest and although he played number of Shpageeza T20 matches, for longer format he is not healthy enough," Sayed Naseem Sadaat, spokesperson of ACB, confirmed to Cricbuzz on Monday.
Rashid last played a Test in March 2021 against Zimbabwe, marking his fifth cap in the format. The nation has since played a Test each against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Ireland, the latter two occurring this year itself. The upcoming encounter against New Zealand marks the first time Afghanistan play three Tests in a year and their first home game in Greater Noida.
Nevertheless, Rashid is expected to be back for the country's first ever bilateral appointment against South Africa in the form of a three-match ODI series in the United Arab Emirates beginning September 18.
"That's why we will be waiting for him and we hope he will return for the three-match ODI series against South Africa," Sayed added.
The 20-man Afghan preliminary squad is set to leave for India on August 28 for a one week preparation camp ahead of the Test beginning September 9, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi with R Sridhar as the newly appointed assistant coach. Another addition to the unit is Azmatullah Omarzai who seems in line for his Test debut even though he has only played five first-class games in his career.
"20 players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness," Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector of ACB said in a statement on Monday.
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