Rashid Khan will not be included in Afghanistan’s preliminary squad for New Zealand Check. — ICC
Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan says his crew don’t have any “specific targets” regardless of producing groundbreaking performances in current ICC world occasions, forward of a T20 worldwide tri-series beginning Friday.
Rashid’s males face Pakistan within the opening sport in Sharjah, with the United Arab Emirates the opposite aspect participating within the occasion which serves as a warm-up for subsequent month’s Asia Cup, additionally within the UAE.
Afghanistan reached the semi-finals of final 12 months’s T20 World Cup in america and the Caribbean, and narrowly missed out on reaching the final 4 on the ODI Champions Trophy in Pakistan earlier in 2025.
These performances adopted a powerful displaying on the 2023 one-day World Cup, when the Afghans produced assertion wins over England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“We do not have specific targets, and we do not want to put extra pressure on our players,” Rashid stated Thursday when requested if Afghanistan are focusing on the Asia Cup title.
“Our target is to play the brand of cricket we have played over the years. For us, the main target is to put in 200% effort on the ground,” he added.
“I think we have been doing well in the ICC events and although we haven’t played T20I cricket over the last few months, the guys have been playing in T20 leagues around the world and that has helped.”
Afghanistan beat Pakistan 2-1 in a T20I sequence on the similar venue in 2023.
The 16-man Afghan squad for the tri-series consists of fast-rising thriller spinner AM Ghazanfar together with fellow spin bowlers Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid.
The Asia Cup will get below means on September 9, as groups ramp up their preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Opposite to Afghanistan, Pakistan’s fortunes are dipping after they crashed out of the final T20 World Cup within the group stage earlier than failing to win a match on the Champions Trophy.
This 12 months they misplaced a T20 sequence in Bangladesh 2-1 however overcame the West Indies by the identical margin.
Below new captain Salman Agha, Pakistan are going by means of a transition with former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out of the T20 squad.
“We are trying to build a team and this tri-series and then the Asia Cup will be a good opportunity to achieve that,” stated Agha.
“We know both these events will be challenging but we are ready.”
All three groups within the tri-series will play one another twice, with the highest two to face off in a remaining on September 7.
In addition to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE, the Asia Cup may even embody defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman and Hong Kong.
