Rashid leads Afghan attack in India Test

Kabul: Teen sensation Rashid Khan will lead a heavyweight spin attack for Afghanistan in the country’s first-ever Test against India next month, the Afghan cricket board announced Tuesday.

Khan and fellow spinners Mujeebur Rahman, Zahir Khan and Hamza Hotak were named in a 16-strong squad for the historic one-off Test in Bangalore starting June 14.

The 19-year-old Khan was a star performer in the Indian Premier League with 21 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad, who lost in Sunday’s final to Chennai Super Kings.

Rahman, 17, also impressed in the cash-rich league with 14 scalps for Kings XI Punjab.

Asghar Stanikzai will captain the Test debutants in the five-day game which will be preceded by three Twenty20 internationals against Bangladesh.

The T20 games will be played in the northern Indian city of Dehradun on June 3, 5 and 7.

Afghanistan have had their training base in India since 2015, and were given Test status last year with Ireland, who lost their first five-day match to Pakistan earlier this month.

Afghanistan will be underdogs in the Test against India, but they will start as favourites against Bangladesh in the T20 clashes.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman on Tuesday withdrew from next month’s Twenty20 series against Afghanistan because of an injured foot.

Mustafizur complained of pain after joining the national training camp last week, at the end of the IPL in which he played for Mumbai Indians.

“Subsequent tests have revealed a crack on his left big toe which will sideline him for a few weeks,” said a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) statement.

“It takes around three to four weeks to recover from such injuries and therefore he can’t play against Afghanistan,” BCB senior physician Debashis Chowdhury said in the statement.

Test squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Jannat, Rahmat Shah, Nasir Jamal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Zahir Khan, Hamza Hotak, Syed Ahmad Sherzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar Momand, Mujeebur Rahman.

Squad for Bangladesh T20s: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad, Najeebullah Tarakai, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Jannat, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeebur Rahman, Shapoor Zadran, Aftab Alam.