Rasooli, Qais Ahmed named in Afghanistan's T20 World Cup squad

Middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli and allrounder Qais Ahmed returned to the Afghanistan national team as they announced their T20 World Cup squad on Thursday. 

Five players from their Asia Cup squad - Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad - received the axe while uncapped pacer Salim Safi was added to the 16-player squad.

Afghanistan, who are grouped alongside host Australia, New Zealand, England and two other qualifiers(to be decided), will be captained by allrounder Mohammad Nabi.

Rasooli, who made his international debut earlier this year, makes the cut after recovering from a finger injury and churning out impressive performances in the domestic Shpageeza Cricket League 2022. 

Qais Ahmed returns to the squad, last having played a T20I in March 2022 against Bangladesh, while 20-year-old Safi has secured his maiden international call-up.

Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, and Gulbadin Naib have been named as travelling reserves, while the rest of the squad is made up of familiar names.

"The Asia Cup was a very good opportunity for the team to buildup things nicely for the much-important global event in Australia," Chief selector Noor Malikzai said.

Afghanistan belong to Group 1 in the T20 World Cup and begin their campaign on October 22 against England in Perth. 

T20 World Cup Squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib