Rashid Khan Appointed as Stand-in Captain; Asghar Stanikzai to miss start of World Cup Qualifier

Number one ranked ODI bowler Rashid Khan will step up from the vice-captaincy post and will lead Afghanistan in the starting stage of the qualifier tournament.

One of the most emerging associate team in cricket Afghanistan have suffered a major blow before the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifier.

30 year old middle order batsman Asghar Stanikzai has been ruled out of action for 10 days and will miss out the start of the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe.

Stanikzai was forced to undergo surgery for appendicitis and is expected to be out for ten days.

Afghanistan are scheduled to play two warm-up matches against West Indies and the Netherlands on 27^th February and 1^st March respectively.

Their first CWCQ match is a Group B clash against Scotland on 4^th March which also the Afghan skipper will miss.

Stanikzai is accepted to return to action against Zimbabwe on 6^th March.

Afghanistan will also play Zimbabwe, Nepal, and Hong Kong in Group B. The top three teams will then qualify for the Super Six stage alongside three teams from Group A.

The 30-year-old middle-order batsman has scored 1,565 runs at an average of 21.14 in 83 ODIs. However his recent run of form has not been very impressive. Afghanistan won the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in the UAE 4-1. Stanikzai batted thrice in the series and scored 3, 1 and 2.

Here’s the news feed:

Rashid Khan honoured to be the top ranked ODI and T20I bowler

Brian Lara insists Windies Must Qualify for the 2019 World Cup