Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan ruled out of T20Is against India

Afghanistan's designated T20I skipper Rashid Khan has been ruled of the upcoming three-match series against India. The spinner was initially included in the squad, however, he was anyway not expected to play before the confirmation on his absence from the series. Rashid is still recovering from the lower-back surgery done after the ODI World Cup which concluded in November 2023. The surgery also ruled him out of Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) and South Africa's SA20 tournament as well.

Afghanistan had named Ibrahim Zadran as Rashid's replacement as the skipper for the series at the time of squad announcement. Zadran had also led the Afghans in the recently-concluded UAE series as well. Speaking on Rashid's absence, Zadran said: "He is not totally fit, but is travelling with the team."

"We hope that he gets fit as soon as we expect him to. He's doing his rehab with the doctor, and we will miss him in the series."

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"Without Rashid, we will struggle but not that much because his experience is very important for all of us, but this is cricket and you should be ready for any kind of situation, " added the stand-in skipper.

The T20Is will be played on January 11, 14 and 17 in Mohali, Indore and Bengaluru, respectively.

Afghanistan have also recalled spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman for the upcoming series. Mujeeb was not part of Afghanistan's last T20I series in UAE as he was playing in BBL for Melbourne Renegades. His trip, however, was cut short after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) revoked his No Objection Certificate (NoC) along with Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi.

The board since has relaxed its position and has allowed the trio limited NOCs to play in different leagues although with a pay cut.

Afghanistan squad: Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.