KABUL: Afghanistan’s team for the forthcoming three-match Twenty20 International series in India includes Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The 22-year-old mystery spinner was playing for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL rather than representing his country in the T20I series in the United Arab Emirates. However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) withdrew Mujeeb’s No-Objection Certificate (NoC) for the balance of the BBL, resulting in the termination of his BBL career.On December 25, the ACB declared that Mujeeb would be sanctioned, along with seamen Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq, after they informed the board that they would not be signing central contracts for 2024. The three players were informed that their present NOCs would be removed and that they would be deemed “non-eligible” for NOCs for the following two years.After speaking with the board, Farooqi and Naveen “demonstrated a strong desire to represent their country again” and have since played for Afghanistan in their most recent Twenty20 International series against the UAE, according to the ACB.
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It will be Mujeeb’s first T20Is in India since July 2023. Mujeeb is a member of Rashid Khan, Qais Ahmad, and Noor Ahmad’s potent spin unit. The 19-man roster includes Rashid, Afghanistan’s chosen T20I captain, although he is unlikely to play given his ongoing recovery from a back surgery that also kept him out of the BBL and the UAE T20I series. It is acknowledged that he won’t be able to resume bowling for ten days. Afghanistan’s captain in India will be batsman Ibrahim Zadran, who earlier led his team to a 2-1 series victory over the United Arab Emirates. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s backup wicketkeeper is Ikram Alikhil.Darwish Rasooli, Muhammad Ishaq, and Sediqullah Atal were all members of the team. “We are excited to be going on our first tour to India for a three-match series,” the chairman of the All- Cricket Board, Mirwais Ashraf, stated in a release. “Afghanistan is thrilled to be playing a three-match Twenty20 International against India, the best team in the world.” We think Afghanistan has performed well recently and are no longer the underdogs, therefore we anticipate a very competitive series against India.”This T20I series between Afghanistan and India will be their first bilateral match. The teams will travel to Indore and Bangalore for the final two games of the three-match series on January 14 and 17, respectively, after the first game takes place in Mohali on January 11.
