The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a preliminary 22-man squad for the Asia Cup 2025. The team will travel to the UAE for a two-week training and preparation camp ahead of their upcoming tri-series with Pakistan and the UAE in Sharjah. After the camp, the squad will be reduced to 15 players, who will feature in the tri-series and the Asia Cup.
Afghanistan name squad for Asia Cup
The tri-series will commence on August 29, and the final will be played on September 7. The turnaround for the Asia Cup will be nonexistent for Afghanistan. Just two days later, they’ll play their first group stage match on September 9 against Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi.
The ACB has named Rashid Khan as captain for the Asia Cup. He was leading Afghanistan when they last played a T20I in December 2024. Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be his deputy vice-captain.
Having reached the final four stage of the last T20 edition of the Asia Cup in 2022, Afghanistan will want to reach their maiden final. Apart from being one of the best teams in the shortest format of the game, Afghanistan has experience of playing in the UAE.
Spinners, their biggest commodity, will thrive on slow surfaces. This should bring them more into the game against top sides. We have seen Afghanistan improving year by year and showing up against the best teams at ICC events. This Asia Cup could be where they finally claim their biggest trophy.
Afghanistan preliminary squad for Asia Cup
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk & vc), Sediqullah Atal, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharoti, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Zadran, Amir Hamza Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad Lakanwal, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Farid Malik, Saleem Safi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad.
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