Due to a back injury, Afghanistan’s top leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been excluded from the preliminary 20-man squad chosen for the one-off Test match against New Zealand. The cricketer is said to have sustained this injury while participating in Afghanistan’s T20 tournament last month known as Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL).
On Monday, August 26th, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced a 20-member preliminary squad for the one-off test against New Zealand scheduled to take place in Greater Noida from September 9 to September 13. Rashid’s name was absent from the list.
Earlier, an injury to his hamstring had kept him out of The Hundred as well. Thursday’s report by ESPNcricinfo quoted Afghanistan’s team management stating that Rashid sustained a back injury while playing for Speen Ghar Tigers (SGT) during the Shpageeza Cricket League.
In total, he played three matches in the Shpageeza Cricket League. In his first two matches – he registered figures of 3-9 and 2-27 respectively. In his third game against Amo Sharks he scored 53 runs off just 26 balls besides taking 1 wicket for 20 runs. This match was particularly painful on his back whereupon he missed also team’s following match due to pain.
AfghanAtalan are off to India for a week-long conditioning camp in preparation for their inaugural Test match against New Zealand.#AfghanAtalan | #AFGvNZ pic.twitter.com/nK8s8YU3m7
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) August 28, 2024
For the past few years, the veteran batsman has been dealing with various injuries. He went under the knife for a back problem after the October-November ODI World Cup held in India last year. A T20I series against Ireland saw him back in cricketing action this March. As pointed out earlier, Rashid also could not complete his journey in this year’s Hundred because of hamstring trouble.
Afghanistan, without Rashid, will have a challenging test against New Zealand in the upcoming one-off match
Rashid Khan will not be playing against New Zealand in the one-off Test at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground next month which poses a greater challenge for Afghanistan. The 20 men provisional squad members have begun training at Greater Noida without their spinners.
In five Tests, Rashid has taken 34 wickets at an average of 22.35 with four five-fers and two ten-wicket match hauls under his name. So far, Afghanistan has played nine Test matches winning three and losing six out of them. Their last three Tests have ended up in defeats.
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