Afghanistan drop Mohammad Nabi from T20Is, Darwish Rasooli out of both white-ball teams
Mohammad Nabi (Source: Getty Images)
Published - 02 Oct 2026, 10:57 AM• Read time - 3 mins
Afghanistan have dropped veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi from their T20I side for the upcoming series against Zimbabwe. Nabi was a part of Afghanistan’s last T20I assignment against India in Delhi, featuring in all three matches of the series. He went wicketless in two games and registered scores of 8, 20 and 33 in the three matches, respectively.
Recently, he also slipped out of the top ten of the ICC all-rounders' rankings. However, Nabi has retained his place in the ODI squad for a triangular series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and the team management keen to have him till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Apart from him, Darwish Rasooli has been dropped from both the T20I and ODI squads. Rasooli recently captained Afghanistan in the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket competition. He had been enduring poor form for a long time, bagging two ducks in his last three innings.
He also had scores of 26 and 2 in the two T20Is in India. Before that, he also had low returns in the ODI series in Ireland, having made 24, 13 and 16 in the three innings respectively. Young fast bowler Abdullah Tarakhail has also earned his maiden T20I call-up after performing in the Shpageeza Cricket League in July, where he scalped 10 wickets in seven games.
Rashid Khan rested for Tests
Afghanistan will first take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test from October 9 in Abu Dhabi, which will also be the first full-time Test captaincy assignment for Rahmat Shah. Rashid Khan and Ibrahim Zadran have been rested from the longest format as per medical advice.
Left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman has marked his return to the Test side after 14 months of a long injury layoff. Fast-bowling allrounder Ismat Alam, middle-order batter Shahidullah, fast bowler Yamin Ahmadzai and legspinner Khalil Gurbaz have also returned to the longest format.
After the Bangladesh Test, Afghanistan will take part in the ODI tri-series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from October 17 to 23, in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, before hosting Zimbabwe for three T20Is (October 27 to November 1) and the two Tests on November 5 and 13, all in Sharjah.
Afghanistan Test squad for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe: Rahmat Shah (capt), Ikram Alikhil (vice-capt & wk), Afsar Zazai (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmanullah Zadran, Shahidullah, Ismat Alam, Qais Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman, Khalil Gurbaz, Mohammad Saleem, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi and Yamin Ahmadzai
Reserves: Bahir Shah, Naseer Khan Maroofkhil, Bilal Sami and Bashir Ahmad
Afghanistan ODI squad for tri-series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe: Rahmat Shah (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (vice-capt & wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Bilal Sami, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Yamin Ahmadzai
Travelling reserve: Qais Ahmad
Afghanistan T20I squad for Zimbabwe: Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Noor Rahman (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Akram, Shahidullah, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdullah Tarakhail, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Fareed Ahmad
Reserves: Faridoon Dawoodzai, Qais Ahmad and Nangyalai Khan