Rashid Khan ruled out of India vs Afghanistan T20I series, visitors hope backups will step up

Star Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan will be missing the T20I series against India, which starts on 11 January. Rashid was named in the squad despite undergoing back surgery after the ODI World Cup in November but has now been ruled out.

“He is not totally fit. We will miss him in the series. We will struggle without Rashid but one should be ready for any kind of situation,” Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran revealed in the pre-match press conference.

Zadran is hopeful other players will step up in Rashid’s absence.

“We have many players like Mujeeb (Zadran) who have played a lot of cricket. We have trust in them. We will struggle without Rashid but one should be ready for any kind of situation,” he added.

The Afghanistan skipper also spoke about the challenge of playing in India and asserted that despite Men in Blue being a strong side, the visitors have the talent to spring a surprise.

“Playing against India on their home soil is difficult but we are here to win, show our skills. We have lots of good players in T20 and we are good in this format, I am sure we will perform well,” he said.

“We have one of the best spinners in the world, we have fast bowlers as well but our aim is to improve batting skills

“We have been training here last two three days, there was no dew,” he added.

On the personal front, Zadran said that he wants to improve his strike rate ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. He has a strike rate of 103 after 27 games.

“I play the anchor role in the team in ODIs. In T20s, the aim is to improve my strike rate but it also depends on the situation. When team needs you, you should be able to play fancy shots.

“I am working on it. We are going to the T20 World Cup. if I increase that strike rate, it will be good for the team,” he added.