Spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, fast bowler Hamid Hassan and all-rounder Gulbadin Naib are among the five Afghstan cricketers who are awaiting the "visa issue" to get resolved so that they can join the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Afghstan and Zimbabwe will lock horns in a three-match T20I series in the UAE from Wednesday. According to a report in ESPNcricinfo which cited an ACB release, all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai, and leg-break bowler Waqar Salamkheil are the other two players who are on the waitlist.
Afghstan squad captained by Asghar Afghan, who recently won the second Test against Zimbabwe, are already in the UAE.
Afghstan squad for T20I series: Asghar Afghan (capt), Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Afsar Zazai (wk), Usman Gh, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Amir Hamza, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Farid Malik.
Players awaiting visas: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Gulbadin Naib, Waqar Salamkheil, Azmatullah Omarzai.
In the second Test, an 11-wicket haul for Rashid Khan and record batting performances from skipper Afghan and Hashmatullah Shahidi helped Afghstan level the series on Sunday.
The match was a record-runner for the team as Hashmatullah Shahidi became the first Afghan double-centurion, Asghar became the first one to score 150 for Afghstan while Rashid Khan ended with bowling the most number of overs this century so far.
In the first innings, Rashid returned with the figures of 4-138 from 36.3 overs while in the second innings, the spinner returned with seven wickets. Because of Rashid's brilliance in the second innings, Zimbabwe only managed to set a target of 108 runs for Afghstan which they chased down, riding on Rahmat Shah's half-century.
( With inputs from ANI )
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