File photo of Rashid Khan© AFP
All-rounder Rashid Khan is a notable omission in Afghanistan's 20-member preliminary squad for the one-off Test against New Zealand, to be played in Greater Noida next month. Rashid's absence from the September 9-13 contest comes as a surprise as he has been Afghanistan's highest wicket-taker in the format, having taken 34 wickets in five Tests at an average of 22.35, including four fifers. He played his last Test for Afghanistan in 2021 against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi, where he took 11 wickets.
Besides, Rashid is also a handy batter and has a half-century to his name in Tests.
The other notable omissions in the side, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, are Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Karim Janat, though Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai have been included in the preliminary squad.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said the final 15-member squad will be announced at the end of a week-long preparatory camp in Greater Noida.
The preliminary squad will arrive in India on August 28.
"20 players have been selected for the training camp, and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness," said an ACB release.
"I am happy to see some youngsters in the squad who performed well in domestic cricket and have gotten the opportunity to be part of the Test squad for this Test match," said ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf.
Afghanistan preliminary squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhel (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad and Yama Arab.