Afghan cricket team faces Pakistan in its Asia Cup debut

KABUL: (MEP) – The Afghanistan national cricket team is making a debut in Asia Cup and will face Pakistan the defending champions on Thursday.

Afghanistan was brought into the Asia Cup after it qualified for the ICC World Cup which is due to be organized next year.

Afghan captain, Mohammad Nabi, said the match against big teams like Pakistan is a big moment for the Afghan team.

Nabi further added that Afghan team has a good support from the Afghan cricket board and the Afghan team will try their best to play good cricket in this tournament.

He said the Afghan team is expecting to move forward and they have a good combination of players who played together for past several years.

Nabi also added that half of the team including Rahmat Shah, Azghar Stanikzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Shahzad, Shapoor Zadran have a good experience of the field since they have played in various matches in Bangladesh.

Afghanistan has played One-Day Internationals against full members Pakistan and Australia in the past. However, this is the first time Afghanistan would be participating in a tournament against Test-playing nations.

Afghanistan has already tasted successes in One-Day Internationals against Scotland, Netherlands, Canada and Kenya.

The Afghanistan squad includes Mohammad Nabi (capt), Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Fazal Niazai, Hamid Hassan, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadiq, Mirwaiz Ashraf, Mohammad Shahzad, Najibullah Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Shapoor Zadran.