Afghanistan takes on Sri Lanka in a one-off Test match in Colombo from February 2-6. They have played just seven Test matches cumulatively and this is their first Test against Sri Lanka.
Hasmatullah Shahidi will lead Afghanistan. He will have to lead a young group of players a few of whom are still uncapped in the Test format. The Afghans are slated to play a few Test matches this year starting with the one against Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan have handed maiden call-ups to right-arm quick Naveed Zadran and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Ishaq for their maiden and one-off Test against Sri Lanka. Uncapped batter Noor Ali Zadran and left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman were also named in the 16-man squad.
Rashid Khan is a big absence from the Afghan Test squad. He recently underwent a lower back surgery in the UK and thus is under rehabilitation at the moment. He has pulled out from the various T20 leagues being played simultaneously. He did not play in the T20I series against India as well. Qais Ahmad was named as his replacement in the squad.
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ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf thanked the Sri Lankan cricket board for agreeing to play the Test match against Afghanistan. He also spoke about the side playing several Test matches this year taking their red-ball game to new heights.
Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil, the interim Chief Selector spoke about the team’s 10-day preparatory camp in the UAE for the one-off Test match against Sri Lanka. They are ranked 11th as of now in the ICC Test rankings. In this article, we predict Afghanistan’s playing XI for the one-off Test against Sri Lanka.
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Afghanistan Playing 11 vs Sri Lanka – Only Test, 2024
Ibrahim Zadran
Zadran will open the batting for Afghanistan. He is an established white-ball opener for his side but has yet to make an impact in Test cricket. He has played five Test matches closing in on 400 runs in the format.
Noor Ali Zadran
Noor has played 50 ODIs and 22 T20Is but is yet to make his Test debut for his country. He is amongst the ones who are still uncapped in Test cricket. He idolizes Ricky Ponting.
Rahmat Shah
Rahmat will bat at three. He is the most technically correct batter in this Afghanistan Test side. He has played all of Afghanistan’s seven Test matches till date scoring 424 runs in them along with a century.
Hasmatullah Shahidi (C)
Shahidi will lead the side. He is a left-handed batter and led the side in the World Cup and did a fabulous job at that. Shahid has a best of 200 in six Test matches and he is touching close to 500 runs in the format.
Nasir Jamal
Jamal is another Test match specialist for Afghanistan. He will bat at five. He has played in three Test matches and already has a fifty to his name in the format averaging almost 30.
Ikram Alikhil (WK)
Ikram will be the specialist keeper batting at six. He was a part of Afghanistan’s World Cup squad recently and kept in a few games. He is the team’s specialist keeper in the longest format. He made his Test debut against Ireland back in November 2019.
Qais Ahmed
Qais can bat at seven. He has played a few cameos with the bat both for Afghanistan and for T20 teams in domestic leagues. Qaid has also played just one Test match so far.
Zahir Khan
He is a left-arm spinner who can be the second spinner in the playing XI. He made his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2019 and played his last Test against Bangladesh in 2023.
Mohammad Salim Safi
Safi is amongst the bowlers who are yet to make their Test debut. he is expected to be given his Test cap against Sri Lanka. The pacer has played two ODIs and one T20I for his country so far.
Yamin Ahmadzai
He is another pacer who has a fair bit of Text experience. He has played six of the seven Test matches for Afghanistan and looks like their Test specialist. He has taken 13 wickets.
Naveed Zadran
Naveen concludes the likely playing XI for Afghanistan. He is yet to make his Afghanistan international debut and might make his Test debut in this game. He is an 18-year-old right-arm pacer.
