Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead Afghanistan in the upcoming Test and ODI tour of India, while IPL star Allah Ghazanfar earns a call-up after his impressive season with Mumbai Indians.
India will look to seal the ODI series against Afghanistan while continuing to test combinations for the 2027 World Cup, with Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal among those pushing for opportunities in the second match.
India begin their 2027 ODI World Cup preparations against Afghanistan with Rohit Sharma's fitness and Nitish Kumar Reddy's all-round abilities under scrutiny, while Shubman Gill continues to shape his leadership credentials.
Harshit Rana returns to the Indian after regaining fitness even as Yashasvi Jaiswal will have to prove his ODI credibility as India look to sweep series against Afghanistan.
Ibrahim Zadran takes over the reins from Rashid Khan after Afghanistan's early ouster from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.
Maulana Tauqeer Raza, already jailed for his involvement in the 'I Love Muhammad' row, has been booked along with nine others for allegedly threatening a 95-year-old man and his family over a land dispute in Bareilly. The family alleges harassment, molestation, and attempted land grabbing, leading to a suicide attempt by the victim's son.
'This game against Tottenham will be important for us... to be (around) the top of the league.'
Afghanistan may be faced with some off-field distractions in Pakistan with Group B rivals England and South Africa being urged to boycott their matches.
Hockey India on Monday sought to strike a conciliatory note with its revolting players, saying that the demands put forth by Rajpal Singh and his men were "fair enough" and a compromise would be thrashed out soon.
He does not want to crack the whip as of now but Hockey India President A K Mattoo on Monday said the option of suspending the revolting players remains open if the payment row is not resolved.
Teenage Afghanistan off-spinner AM Ghazanfar has been ruled out of both the ICC Champions Trophy and the IPL due to a lower back fracture.
Defeat will severely dent both the teams' dreams of a semi-final berth in the tournament, as South Africa and Australia have already notched two points.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said the final 15-member squad will be announced at the end of a week-long preparatory camp in Greater Noida.
Australia's historic pedigree in cricket's biggest tournaments will count for nothing when they run into an Afghanistan side that is fast cementing its place in the game's top table in the Champions Trophy match in Lahore on Friday.
Debutants Afghanistan will aim to continue their impressive rise in white-ball cricket, while South Africa will once again attempt to shed the 'chokers' tag when the two sides kick-off their Champions Trophy campaign in Karachi on Friday.
Premier leg-spinner Rashid Khan was on Saturday picked in a 19-member Afghanistan squad, to be led by young Ibrahim Zadran, for the three T20 Internationals against India starting on January 11 in Mohali.
Middle-order batter Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the side.
'It was a wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan'
A desperate Pakistan will be wary of a competent group of Afghanistan spinners' ability to strike hard on an often-gripping Chepauk pitch when the teams meet in the World Cup match in Chennai on Monday
Claiming that Khan's health was "constantly declining", the petition said the top scientist recently had high blood pressure, suffered a stroke and fell unconscious.
'When I was batting, I realised the wicket wasn't supportive for batters against spinners. I told the boys that 280-290 would be enough when I got back into the dressing room. I want to say that the belief, trust and talent is there.'
IMAGES from the World Cup match played between England and Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday.
New Zealand face England-beaters Afghanistan aiming to keep their unbeaten run intact
Afghanistan (6 points) will not only look to secure two points against the Dutch (4 points) but also aim to win big and improve the net run-rate
Rohit, who will also captain the side, will be expected to carry on with his ultra aggressive approach in the powerplay like he showed in the ODI World Cup.
With the series already in the bag, India will be eager to perfect their freshly-baked T20 template as a team and hope that skipper Rohit Sharma's bat finally fires when they face Afghanistan in the third and last match of the rubber in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
After playing a major role in Chennai Super Kings' IPL triumph, young pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana will be hoping to make the same impact for Sri Lanka in the ODI series against Afghanistan.
All-rounder Karim Janat on Sunday returned to Afghanistan's ODI squad after a gap of six years and the selectors also included seasoned left-handed batter Najibullah Zadran in the 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup.
The Sri Lanka-Afghanistan fixture will be the second one at the Gadaffi Stadium and is expected to be a run feast. - Asia Cup 2023.
Ahead of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, here's a full list of the final squads of all ten teams.
Will the young gun survive Virat Kohli's comeback?
Bangladesh eye an improved performance from their batters in their 2nd group match against Afghanistan on Sunday in the Asia Cup 2023.
Chance for Bangladesh, Afghanistan to produce that one breakout performance
Three days after stunning defending champions England in New Zealand, the plucky Afghans briefly kindled hopes of another upset when New Zealand's top order suffered a mini-collapse.
Navigating their way through extreme pressure moments in their tournament opener, India will be eyeing a perfect game against a sprightly Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup match in Delhi on Wednesday.
Their campaign back on track after the humiliating loss in the opener, title holders England would look for a dominating all-round effort against a battered Afghanistan in the World Cup in New Delhi on Sunday, with eyes firmly set on bettering their net run rate.
South Africa will look to fix their chasing troubles before the semifinals while Afghanistan will back themselves to beat another top team
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Afghanistan vs South Africa, in Ahmedabad, on Friday.
Afghanistan dismissed England for 215 to create one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
Pakistan's new Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Lt Gen Zahir-ul-Islam, is the nephew of Indian National Army hero Shah Nawaz Khan and through him, shares a tenuous link with Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan.
