As a part of the agreement between the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the Emirates Cricket Board where the Emirates cricket board will be the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) logistical and infrastructure support for the next five years, including hosting their “home” matches for the period. As a result, Afghanistan committed to playing UAE in a three-match T20I series annually until the deal expires.
The teams will be meeting across formats for the first time since March 2018. However, this series isn’t a part of the ICC’s FTP during the 2023-27 cycle, where they are slotted to play 21 Tests, 45 ODIs and 57 T20Is. Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced a 22-member squad for the series which will be trimmed to a 17-member squad after the training camp completes in UAE.
Meanwhile, the contracts of Head Coach of Afghanistan Jonathan Trott, Bowling Coach Umar Gul and fielding coach Ryan Maron had come up for an extension. Where Jonathan Trott’s period is extended till the World Cup 2023 which is going to be held in India in September and October.
Australia even cancelled a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan scheduled for March after the Taliban banned university education for girls.
Afghanistan’s 22-member squad:
Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Bilal Sami, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Gulbadin Naib, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Nangyal Kharoti, Naveen Ul Haq, Nijat Masoud, Noor Ahmad, Rahmat Shah, Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Zahir Khan.