Afghanistan will look to end their tour of Zimbabwe on a winning note as they eye a historic Test series victory in the African country. The second Test of the ongoing series between the two sides will begin on Thursday (January 2) at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
Riding high on confidence after winning the T20I and ODI series, the Afghans came into the first Test with an impressive show. The visitors were on the back foot after Zimbabwe posted a mammoth total of 586 runs in the first innings.
Sean Williams, Craig Erwin and Brian Bennett scored centuries for the hosts. In reply, Afghanistan piled up 699 runs thanks to double centuries from Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah and a century from Afsar Zazai.
Zimbabwe were 142/4 in the second innings when proceedings came to an end. Ahead of the second Test, we take a look at the Afghanistan Playing 11.
Afghanistan Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe – 2nd Test, Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe 2024-25:
Open: Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal
Abdul Malik and Sediqullah Atal are expected to be the openers in the Afghan Playing 11. After a fine performance in the ODI series, both the batsmen failed to impress in the first Test. Both failed to score big and will look better in the second Test.
Atal was out for just 3 runs and will be looking to bounce back. Malik on the other hand got the start but couldn’t convert it into a big score as he went for 23 runs.
Middle-order batsmen and fielders: Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahidullah Kamal
The middle order in the Afghan Playing 11 had a game to remember in the first Test. Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi led the batting attack for their side. Shah scored 234 runs while captain Shahidi scored 246 runs.
Wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai also made his presence felt by scoring 113 runs. Shahidullah Kamal remained unbeaten on 29 runs in the first innings. Azmatullah Omarzai he was out for a duck in the first innings and will look to do well in the upcoming Test. With the ball, Omarzai took a wicket.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Naveed Zadran, Zahir Khan
The visitors are likely to make one change to the playing 11 for the second Test. Their star player Rashid Khan is set to return to the Afghan Playing 11 for the upcoming game after missing the first Test due to personal reasons.
Zia-ur-Rehman took 2 wickets in the first innings but is likely to make way for Rashid in the Afghanistan Playing 11. Naveed Zadran took 2 wickets in the first Test and is expected to retain his place in the team. He is the only first-line pacemaker on the team.
Afghanistan are likely to have two more players in the squad – AM Ghazanfar and Zahir Khan. Both spinners took 4 wickets in the first Test. While Zahir took 2 wickets in each innings, Ghazanfar claimed 3 wickets in the first innings before taking another wicket in the second innings.
2025-01-01 18:05:00
