FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 - Australia v Afghanistan - Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India - November 7, 2023 Afghanistan's Rashid Khan reacts REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
(Reuters) - Afghanistan spin spearhead Rashid Khan will return to test cricket in a two-match series in Zimbabwe beginning later this month, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said on Monday.
Rashid played the last of his five tests against Zimbabwe in March 2021 before taking a break from the format following a recurring groin injury.
The leg-spinner has been a key figure for the Afghan white-ball teams, who reached the semi-finals of this year's T20 World Cup and will make their Champions Trophy debut next year.
"Rashid Khan returns to the test squad, which is a promising sign for our red ball game going forward," chief selector Ahmad Shah Sulimankhil said in a statement.
Afghanistan picked seven uncapped players for the two-test series in Bulawayo beginning on Dec. 26, with all-rounder Ismat Alam, left-arm spinner Zahir Shehzad and left-arm quick Bashir Ahmad Afghan rewarded for their strong domestic performances.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhail, Afsar Zazai, Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ismat Alam, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Zahir Shehzad, Rashid Khan, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
