The presence of Rashid Khan and new faces in the composition of the Afghanistan cricket team against South Africa

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced the 17-member national cricket team for the 50-over series against South Africa.
Heshmatullah Shahidi will be the captain of the Afghanistan team in this series of historic matches and Rahmat Shah will be his deputy. The team also sees the return of Rashid Khan, who missed the previous fifty-over series against Ireland due to injury.
Golbedin Naib and Mohammad Nabi are also present in this composition. However, injuries to several established players have paved the way for the addition of two young players.
Ebrahim Zadran has been sidelined due to sprained ankle, and Mujibur Rahman will not be present in this tournament due to sprained finger.
This has opened the doors for Abdul Malik and Darwish Rasouli, the talented bowlers of the country.
Afghanistan team: Heshmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah (vice-captain), Rahmanullah Garbez, Ikram Ali Khel, Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasouli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbuddin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharouti, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Fazlul Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Navid Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malek.
Naseeb Khan, Chief Executive of the Country Cricket Board said: “Hosting South Africa for the first time in our cricket history is a big turning point for Afghanistan cricket. “They are a great team and playing them in the 50 Series is something we are all excited about.”
He added: “Our team has shown great performance in the International Cricket Council tournaments in the last two to three years and our focus is to make our team equally competent in bilateral tournaments.”
This series of fifty-over matches will be the first meeting between Afghanistan and South Africa outside the International Cricket Council tournaments, and all three matches will be hosted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The two teams last met in the semi-finals of the 2024 World Twenty20, a match which South Africa won.
The series of 50-over matches between Afghanistan and South Africa will start on Wednesday next week.