Afghanistan World Cup 2023 Squad Breakdown: Which of the 15-men will make the Afghanistan 2023 World Cup XI?

Let’s breakdown Afghanistan’s World Cup 2023 squad.

Here is a quick preview: Afghanistan are going with possibly the youngest squad of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Let’s dive right in.

Key Takeaways from Afghanistan’s ODI Squad Announcement

• The average age of Afghanistan World Cup 2023 squad is 24.5. Afghanistan’s squad includes experienced campaigners like Mohammad Nabi (38) & Rahmat Shah (30) along with the young crop – Noor Ahmad (18), Saleem (20), Gurbaz, Zadran, Abdul Rahman (21), and Alikhil, Farooqi (23).
• Afghanistan’s preliminary World Cup squad has average ODI match experience of 45 ODIs (669 ODIs among 15 players). Mohammad Nabi (147 ODIs), Rahmat Shah (97), and Rashid Khan (94) have the most ODI experience for Afghanistan, while the likes of Karim Janat (1), Mohammad Saleem (2), Ibrahim Alikhil (3), Abdul Rahman (3) and Riaz Hassan (5) are the new faces.
• Afghanistan’s squad composition is as follows: 6 proper batters, 4 all-rounders, and 5 proper bowling options. In total, Afghanistan has 11 bowling options (2 leg spin, 2 off spin, 1 left arm wrist spin, 1 left arm pace, and 5 right arm pace) in their squad if absolutely needed. Imagine a bowling line up of Farooqi, Rashid Khan, Nabi, Mujeeb, and Noor.
• Afghanistan has 3 left-handed batting options (Shahidi, Zadran, Alikhil) and two wicketkeeping options.

Afghanistan Cricket World Cup Team at a Glance

Player	Role	Age
Rahmanullah Gurbaz	Right Hand Bat/Wicketkeeper	21
Ibrahim Zadran	Right Hand Bat	21
Riaz Hassan	Right Hand Bat	20
Rahmat Shah	All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Leg Spin)	30
Hashmatullah Shahidi	Left Hand Batter	28
Najibullah Zadran	Left Hand Batter	30
Gulbadin Naib*	All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Medium Pace)	32
Karim Janat**	All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Medium Pace)	25
Ikram Alikhil	Left Hand Bat/Wicketkeeper	23
Rashid Khan	All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Leg Spin)	25
Mohammad Nabi	All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Off Spin)	38
Mujeeb Ur Rahman	Right Arm Off Spin/Mystery	22
Noor Ahmad	Left Arm Wrist Spin	18
Fazalhaq Farooqi	Left Arm Fast	23
Sharafuddin Ashraf*	All-Rounder (Left Arm Spin, Right Hand Bat)	28
Abdul Rahman	Right Arm Medium Pace	21
Mohammad Saleem**	Right Arm Fast	20
Naveen-ul-Haq	Right Arm Fast	24
Azmatullah Omarzai	All-Rounder (Right Arm Pace)	23
Fareed Ahmad*	Left Arm Fast	29

*in the reserves

**did not make it into the final World Cup squad

Afghanistan Cricket World Cup 2023 Potential XI

1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK)
2. Ibrahim Zadran
3. Rahmat Shah
4. Hashmatullah Shahidi (C)
5. Mohammad Nabi
6. Najibullah Zadran
7. Azmatullah Omarzai
8. Rashid Khan
9. Mujeeb ur Rahman
10. Fazalhaq Farooqi
11. Naveen Ul-Haq/Noor Ahmad

Injury News

• Omarzai missed the final match of the Pakistan series due to a side strain and has since been left out of the Asia Cup squad. He returned for the World Cup.

5 Afghanistan Players Who Were Unlucky to Miss Out

• Fareed Ahmad, Wafadar Momand, Shahidullah, Zahir Khan, Qais Ahmad

1 Surprise Pick for Afghanistan’s World Cup Squad

• Naveen-ul-Haq

Afghanistan World Cup Squad – Complete List of Players

1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK)

Role: Right Hand Bat/Wicketkeeper

• Matches/Innings: 26/26
• Runs: 953, Best: 151
• Average/SR: 41.43/85.93
• 100/50: 5/2

Recent ODI Form: 145, 6, 18, 151, 5

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 21

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2. Ibrahim Zadran

Role: Right Hand Bat

• Matches/Innings: 19/19
• Runs: 829, Best: 162
• Average/SR: 55.26/83.56
• 100/50: 4/3

Recent ODI Form: 100,1,0,80,0

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 21

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3. Riaz Hassan

Role: Right Hand Bat

• Matches/Innings: 5/4
• Runs: 120, Best: 50
• Average/SR: 30.00/62.50
• 100/50: 0/1

Recent ODI Form: 50, 1, 35, DNB, 34

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 20

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4. Rahmat Shah

Role: All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/ Right Arm Leg Spin)

• Matches/Innings: 97/93
• Runs: 3191, Best: 114
• Average/SR: 36.26/70.44
• 100/50: 5/23

Recent ODI Form: 7,8,2,0,0

Last ODI: August 22, 2023

Age: 30

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5. Hashmatullah Shahidi (C)

Role: Left Hand Batter

• Matches/Innings: 64/64
• Runs: 1665, Best: 97*
• Average/SR: 31.41/65.91
• 100/50: 0/14

Recent ODI Form: 2, 22, 0, 15*, 13

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 28

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6. Najibullah Zadran

Role: Left Hand Batter

• Matches/Innings: 90/82
• Runs: 2013, Best: 104*
• Average/SR: 30.04/89.42
• 100/50: 1/15

Recent ODI Form: 2, 10, DNB, 10, 10

Last ODI: July 11, 2023

Age: 30

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7. Ikram Alikhil

Role: Left Hand Bat/Wicketkeeper

• Matches/Innings: 14/13
• Runs: 238, Best: 86
• Average/SR: 23.8/60.25
• 100/50: 0/2

Recent ODI Form: 86, 58, 19, 9, 4

Last ODI: August 24, 2023

Age: 23

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8. Mohammad Nabi

Role: All-Rounder (Right Arm Off Spin/ Right Hand Bat)

• Matches/Innings: 147/131
• Runs: 3085, Best: 116
• Average/SR: 27.06/85.19
• 100/50: 1/15
• Wickets: 154, Best: 4/30
• 4-fer/5-fer: 4/0
• Economy: 4.29

Recent ODI Form: 1/29, 1/7, 2/34, 2/46, 0/18 & 25, 1, 7, 29, 3

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 38

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9. Rashid Khan

Role: All-Rounder (Right Arm Bat/Right Arm Leg Spin)

• Matches/Innings: 94/89
• Runs: 1160, Best: 60*
• Average/SR: 19.01/104.69
• 100/50: 0/5
• Wickets: 170, Best: 7/18
• 4-fer/5-fer: 6/4
• Economy: 4.15

Recent ODI Form: 2/21, 2/28, 2/42, 0/53, 1/42 & 2, DNB, 6, 0, 2, 16

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 25

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10. Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Role: Right Arm Off Spin/Mystery

• Matches/Innings: 66/65
• Wickets: 91, Best: 5/50
• 4-fer/5-fer: 3/1
• Economy: 4.08

Recent ODI Form: 3/40, 0/34, 3/33, 1/45, 1/50

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 22

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11. Noor Ahmad

Role: Left Arm Wrist Spin

• Matches/Innings: 3/3
• Wickets: 2, Best: 1/54
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 7.42

Recent ODI Form: 0/32, 1/54, 1/70

Last ODI: June 4, 2023

Age: 18

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12. Abdul Rahman

Role: Right Arm Medium Pace

• Matches/Innings: 3/3
• Wickets: 1, Best: 1/83
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 7.67

Recent ODI Form: 0/27, 0/23, 1/83

Last ODI: August 24, 2023

Age: 21

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13. Fazalhaq Farooqi

Role: Left Arm Fast

• Matches/Innings: 21/21
• Wickets: 32, Best: 4/49
• 4-fer/5-fer: 2/0
• Economy: 5.34

Recent ODI Form: 3/24, 3/22, 2/26, 1/51, 3/69, 1/45

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 23

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14. Azmatullah Omarzai

Role: All-Rounder(Right Arm Fast/Right Hand Bat)

• Matches/Innings: 13/8
• Wickets: 6, Best: 1/17
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 4.93
• Runs: 137, Best: 56

Recent ODI Form: 16* & 0/12

Last ODI: August 22, 2023

Age: 23

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15. Naveen-ul-Haq

Role: Right Arm Fast

• Matches/Innings: 7/7
• Wickets: 14, Best: 4/42
• 4-fer/5-fer: 1/0
• Economy: 5.78

Last ODI: January 26, 2021

Age: 24

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16. Gulbadin Naib*

*in the reserves

Role: All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Fast)

• Matches/Innings: 77/66
• Runs: 1170, Best: 82*
• Average/SR: 20.17/73.30
• 100/50: 0/5
• Wickets: 67, Best: 6/43
• 4-fer/5-fer: 2/1
• Economy: 5.4

Recent ODI Form: 0/25, 3/34, 0/48, 1/19, 2/36 & 22, 6, 8, 20, 0

Last ODI: August 26, 2023

Age: 32

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17. Sharafuddin Ashraf*

*in the reserves

Role: All-Rounder (Left Arm Spin/Right Hand Bat)

• Matches/Innings: 19/11
• Wickets: 13, Best: 3/29
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 4.28
• Runs: 66, Best: 21

Recent ODI Form: 0/50, 1/37, 1/57, 0/23, 0/23

Last ODI: January 23, 2022

Age: 28

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18. Fareed Ahmad*

*in the reserves

Role: Left Arm Fast

• Matches/Innings: 15/14
• Wickets: 21
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 5.41

Recent ODI Form: 2/43, 2/61, 0/8, 2/70

Last ODI: August 25, 2023

Age: 29

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19. Mohammad Saleem**

**did not make into the final WC squad

Role: Right Arm Fast

• Matches/Innings: 2/2
• Wickets: 0
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 6.77

Recent ODI Form: 0/36, 0/34

Last ODI: July 8, 2023

Age: 20

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20. Karim Janat**

**did not make into the final World Cup squad

Role: All-Rounder (Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Fast)

• Matches/Innings: 1/1
• Runs: 9, Best: 9
• Average/SR: 9.00/27.27
• 100/50: 0/0
• Wickets: 0
• 4-fer/5-fer: 0/0
• Economy: 7.75

Recent ODI Form: 9 & 0/31

Last ODI: February 24, 2017

Age: 25

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Final Thoughts on Afghanistan Asia Cup 2023 Squad

Do I expect Afghanistan to win the 2023 ODI World Cup?

No, but I expect a better result than their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign. They may definitely be the dark horse in the 2023 Asia Cup.

What do you think?

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Afghanistan World Cup 2023 Squad

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