Kabul, Oct 10 (IANS): Veteran Mohammad Nabi, the No. 1 ranked T20 all-rounder, was on Sunday named captain of the final 15-member squad by the Afghanistan Cricket Board for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled to be held from October 17 in UAE and Oman.
Afghanistan will get their tournament underway in Sharjah on October 25 against the winners of Group B from the tournament's first-round -- one of Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, or Scotland.
Nabi and company will also be joined in Group 2 by India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, plus the runners-up from the other qualifying pool (either Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, or Sri Lanka).
Afghanistan have won thr'e men's T20 internationals in their history against the full members of the tour'ament's Super 12, out of a total of 14 fixtures. All three of those victories came against the West Indies.
Star bowler Rashid Khan will spearhead the spin attack, along with fellow all-rounder and skipper Nabi and, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Shapoor Zadran and Qais Ahmed failed to make the cut in the final 15 while Farid Ahmed Malik, who was previously named as a reserve, making it to the 15, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said.
Afsar Zazai, who was added as a reserve, did not find a place in either of Afghanistan's lists. Sharafuddin Ashraf and Dawlat Zadran, who were in the provisional 15, have been moved to the reserved players category.
Squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq.
Reserves: Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Fazal Haq Farooqi.