Afghanistan Playing XI vs Zimbabwe- Only Test, Afghanistan Tour of Zimbabwe 2025
Published - 20 Oct 2025, 10:00 AM
Table of Contents
Zimbabwe will face Afghanistan in the only Test of Afghanistan's tour of Zimbabwe 2025. This article provides details about Afghanistan's Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe for the upcoming match.
Afghanistan Playing XI vs Zimbabwe- Only Test, Afghanistan Tour of Zimbabwe 2025:
Openers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran
Afghans would look to start their tour of Zimbabwe with a win in the only Test scheduled to be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare from Monday (October 20).
The upcoming match will be the fifth outing between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in this format of the game, with Afghanistan having a 2-1 lead over their opponent.
The visitors would like to extend the lead by getting rid of the home side and gain momentum for the T20I series that will succeed the Test match.
They have a relatively young squad when it comes to experience of playing Test cricket, as the Afghans haven't played a great deal of Test matches since gaining Test status in 2018.
Having said that, the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran has a lot of experience playing white ball cricket under their belt and would want to put that to good use.
The Afghan batting lineup will depend a lot on the openers to get the team off to a good start, along with scoring runs individually.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Bahir Shah, Abdul Malik, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Shahidullah Kamal, Ismat Alam
The opening pair will be followed by a middle order, which will bank on its captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, to come good and lead from the front.
Shahidi would expect to get good support from the likes of Bahir Shah, Abdul Malik, and Shahidullah Kamal by staying on the wicket and building significant partnerships.
If the Afghans can score 340-350 runs while batting first, the team will be able to create pressure on the opposition batters.
The onus will be on the top five batters to score the bulk of the runs for the team to increase their chances of getting to the above-mentioned score.
Bowlers: Zia Ur Rahman Akbar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Khalil Gurbaz
Their bowling department is where the team might struggle, given that their most experienced bowler, Rashid Khan, isn't a part of the team for this game.
Meaning that the bowlers who lack experience of playing Test cricket will have their task cut out to restrict Zimbabwe to a below-par total.
The visiting bowling lineup includes names like Zia Ur Rahman Akbar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, and Khalil Gurbaz, all of whom have played a handful of Test matches.
The inexpertise in the Afghan bowling attack might come to haunt them as the match progresses, with the Zimbabwean batters having a bit more experience than their opponent in playing the longest format of the game.
All things said, the captain and management would hope for the bowlers to have a good outing and put on a fight against Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in Harare.
Tagged:
Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Afghanistan National Cricket Team Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Craig Ervine Hashmatullah Shahidi
