Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead Afghanistan in their maiden ICC Champions Trophy campaign as the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named the 15-member squad on Sunday.
The return of prolific top-order batter Ibrahim Zadran, who was out of action due to an ankle injury, has been included in the side.
He will accompany swashbuckling Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top of the batting followed by the likes of Rahmat Shah and skipper Shahidi, making up for a strong top-four pairing.
Unfortunately, Mujeeb Ur Rahman is left out of the list; instead, AM Ghazanfar, a similar mystery spinner, has been chosen for the mega event.
"Mujeeb Ur Rahman was not available for the selection as he has been advised by his doctor to focus on T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to ODIs. That was also the reason he missed on the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe," Afghanistan interim chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil said.
"Conditions in Pakistan are similar to those in Afghanistan and the UAE, where we usually play. We will conduct a preparation camp in multiple phases before embarking on our journey for the big event. The expectations are high, and I hope the team will prepare well and deliver some excellent performances, just as they did in the last two World Cups," he added.
Star spinner Rashid Khan will spearhead the spin-bowling under the all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who is the pace spearhead of the side.
ODI squad: Sediqullah Atal, who recently had an unbelievable performance in a three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, clinching the Player of the Series title by scoring 156 runs. He scored a century and half-century each in two games.
The team has named also three names - Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami for reserves to the side with a 15-membership squad.
ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said, "AfghanAtalan have done very well in the last two ICC events, CWC23 and the ICC World T20 2024. Their outstanding performance in both these events and success in series last year will surely give them more confidence to perform even better this time round.
The appointment of mentors has proved to be quite helpful for us in both of the last two events. Considering this success, we have appointed Younis Khan, who has extensive international and local experience, and we look forward to making full use of his expertise during the event.
Afghanistan squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik.
Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti, Bilal Sami.
Afghanistan have been placed in Group B along with England, Australia, and South Africa. They will begin their campaign against South Africa in Karachi on February 21 followed by matches against England and Australia on February 26 and 28, respectively in Lahore.
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