Naveen-ul-Haq ruled out of 2026 T20 World Cup with injury

Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has been ruled out of the three-match T20I series against West Indies and the 2026 T20 World Cup. While the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has not announced his replacement, they have included mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar, batter Ijaz Ahmadzai, and seamer Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi as reserves in their T20 World Cup squad.

There is no confirmation on the nature of Naveen's injury. The pacer is set to undergo surgery later this month. This comes as another significant setback for the pacer, having last represented Afghanistan in December 2024. Following that, he played in the SA20 2025 as well as the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA, but missed the Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE with a shoulder injury. He returned at the ILT20 last year for MI Emirates (MIE), his last competitive matches.

Rashid leaves SA20 for Afghanistan duty

Elsewhere, Rashid Khan has left MI Cape Town at SA20 2026 to lead Afghanistan’s T20I team against West Indies. Defending champions MICT, who are currently at the bottom of the tally with just two wins and five defeats in eight games, have replaced Rashid with Kieron Pollard for the remainder of the season.

However, Pollard, who recently led MI Emirates to a runners-up finish in the ILT20, will not lead MICT, with the franchise expected to announce a replacement captain on Friday. Rassie van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton are the front-runners to fill in captain Rashid’s void. Pollard led MICT in SA20 2024, when they finished at the bottom of the pile. Meanwhile, with 324 runs at a strike rate of 167.01 and two centuries, Rickelton is the leading run-scorer in the SA20 this season. 

MICT have continually struggled in the season, and Rashid’s exit will only weaken them further, given that the spinner was their most economical bowler (7.92) this season. Rashid picked up six wickets. Meanwhile, spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has left the Paarl Royals squad and will link up with the Afghanistan squad imminently.