Zubaid Akbari earns first call-up as Afghanistan unveils ODI and T20I squad for Zimbabwe series

New Delhi [India]: In a significant announcement, the Afghanistan Cricket Board revealed the squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe, with promising young left-hand batter Zubaid Akbari earning his maiden call-up to the national team.

Darwish Rasooli returned to the T20I side following an impressive domestic season, having led Afghanistan to the title at the Emerging Asia Cup.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

Star spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman too is back after recovering from a phalanx sprain and will feature in both formats.

Star opener Ibrahim Zadran, however, remained unavailable as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery.

ACB CEO Naseeb Khan expressed confidence, saying "Afghanistan have a strong history in Zimbabwe, and we look forward to another memorable tour. The selected players are ready for the challenge."

Interim Chief Selector Ahmad Shah praised the squad's depth and expressed his confidence. "Mujeeb's return is vital. Zubaid Akbari and Darwish Rasooli have earned their spots and we wish them success," said Ahmad.

Afghanistan's last white-ball series saw them clinch the ODI series by a 2-1 margin against Bangladesh in Sharjah.

Fixtures:

1st T20I - Wednesday, .

2nd T20I - Friday, .

3rd T20I - Saturday, .

1st ODI - Tuesday, .

2nd ODI - Thursday, .

3rd ODI - Saturday, .

1st Test - December 26 to December 30.

2nd Test - January 2 to January 6.

T20I Squad: Rashid Khan , Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Ishaq, Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Darwish Rasooli, Zubaid Akbari, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq.

ODI Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi , Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik.

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