Afghanistan will be looking to end their tour of Zimbabwe on a winning note as they eye a historic Test series to win in an 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.
High on confidence after winning the T20I and ODI series, the Afghans put up a stellar performance in the first Test. The visitors were behind after Zimbabwe posted a mammoth total of 586 runs in the first innings.
Sean Williams, Craig Ervine and Brian Bennett scored a century for the home side. In reply, Afghanistan piled up 699 runs thanks to double centuries from Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah and centuries from Afsar Zazai.
Zimbabwe were on 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 XI.
Afghanistan playing 11 vs Zimbabwe – 2nd Test, Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe 2024-25:
Openers: Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal
Abdul Malik and Sediqullah Atal are expected to debut in the Afghan Playing 11. After a good display in the ODI series, both the batsmen failed to impress in the first Test. Both failed to score big and will look for a better display in the second Test.
Atal missed only 3 runs and will be happy to recover. On the other hand, Malik got the start but could not convert it into a big score as he went for 23 runs.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Afsar Zazai (ie), 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 attack with the bat 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 after 29 runs in the first innings. Azmatullah Omarzai he was out in the first innings and will look to do well in the upcoming Test. Omarzai picked up one wicket with the ball.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Naveed Zadran, Zahir Khan
The visitors are likely to make one change to their playing XI for the second Test. Their main spinner Rashid Khan is set to return to the Afghan Playing 11 for the upcoming match 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 Afghanistan playing 11. Naveed Zadran picked up 2 wickets in the first test and is expected to retain his place in the squad. He is the only first player in the team.
Afghanistan are likely to have two more spinners in the team – AM Ghazanfar and Zahir Khan. Both spinners picked up 4 wickets in the first Test. While Zahir took 2 wickets in each innings, Ghazanfar took 3 wickets in the first innings before picking another wicket in the second innings.
