Naveen-ul-Haq Returns, Gulbadin Naib Out As Afghanistan Announces Their World Cup Squad

Afghanistan announced their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s World Cup scheduled in October in India.Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who last played a List A game in 2021, makes a comeback to the squad after two years gap while senior all-rounder Gulbadin Naib misses out despite a good showing in the ongoing Asia Cup.

Naveen has played seven ODIs for Afghanistan and took 14 wickets with an average of 25.42. Naib, meanwhile, shone on his ODI comeback in the Pakistan series, and later took a four-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, but found himself out of the squad.

Azmatullah Omarzai also returns to the squad after missing out Asia Cup due to injury.

The squad led by Hashmatullah Shahidi features four changes from the group that played at the Asia Cup. The likes of Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, and Suliman Safi also miss out, aside from Naib.

The rest of the squad looks similar to the Asia Cup, spin department filled with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and young guns Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad.

However, with the return of Naveen to the squad, the Afghanistan bowling will now have depth with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, and Omarzai.

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Afghanistan World Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.