KABUL (SW): The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has named 15 member squad for the forthcoming ‘Desert T20’ cricket tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this month.
Veteran cricketer Nawroz Mangal has been allowed to play in a farewell game days after he announced retirement from the game. The national team would depart for a three-month long trip to the UAE on Thursday. Fast bowler Shahpur Zadran and middle-order batsman Shafiqullah Shafaque have not been named in the line-up. Rumors about taking away captaincy from Asghar Stanekzai also died as has been kept as the skipper.
Players named for the tournament include Asghar Stanekzai, Nawroz Mangal, Shahzad Mohammadi, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari, Gulbudin Naib, Rashid Arman, Najibullah Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Amir Hamza, Najib Taraki, Fareed Malak, Kareem Janat and Naveenul Haq. Usman Ghani and Aftab Alam have been named as reserve players.
The 7-day tournament will commence on Saturday January 14th at Abu Dhabi Cricket Club’s Zayed Cricket Stadium, and will continue daily through to January 17th before relocating to Dubai Sports City’s International Cricket Stadium for the final 2-days of match play. The final would be played on Friday January 20th. Associate teams participating include Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, and the UAE.
Saturday’s opening matches, in Abu Dhabi, will be Scotland v Hong Kong at 2pm followed by Afghanistan v Ireland at 7pm local time.
ENDS
