Flying high Afghanistan will look to continue their dominance over Zimbabwe when both teams face each other in the first Test of the two-match series. The Test is scheduled to be played from Thursday (December 26) at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
Barring the narrow loss in the first T20I, everything has gone well for the Afghans in the ongoing tournament so far. After losing the first T20I, they won the next two games to win the series.
In the ODI series, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team was clearly the superior of the two teams as they far outplayed Zimbabwe in all departments. After rain washed out the first ODI in which Zimbabwe were 44/5 in 10 overs, the Afghans won the second game by 232 runs.
Defending 286 runs, the Afghans bowled out Zimbabwe for just 54 runs. In the third ODI, Afghanistan registered an 8-wicket win while chasing a modest total of 128 runs.
As the Afghans eye a similar outing in the Test series as well, we take a look at the Afghanistan Playing 11 for the first Test.
Afghanistan Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe – First Test, Afghanistan's tour of Zimbabwe 2024-25:
Openers: Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal
Sediqullah Atal and Abdul Malik are expected to be the debutants in the AfghanPlaying 11 for the first Test against Zimbabwe. Atal enjoyed a brilliant campaign in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, scoring 104 and 52 in the last two ODIs.
With form on his side, Atal is expected to make his Test debut in the upcoming game and will look to make the game even more special for him by scoring big.
His opening partner Malik had an excellent outing in ODIs as well. In the second ODI, Malik scored 84 runs before scoring 29 runs in the third game. Malik looked in good touch in the ODIs and will be keen to replicate the form in the Tests as well.
Middle order batsmen and allrounders: Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Alikhil, Bahir Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan
Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead his team with the bat in the middle order. The left-handed batsman already has a double century against Zimbabwe and will be looking to add more Test runs to his tally.
The other batting options in Afghanistan's middle order will be the likes of Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil and Bahir Shah. Rashid Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai will be the two policemen of Afghanistan Playing 11.
Both Omarzai and Rashid have the ability to change the course of any game with both bat and ball and the Afghans will be hoping that the duo lives up to expectations from the first Test.
Bowlers: Naveed Zadran, AM Ghazanfar, Fareed Ahmed
Afghans are likely to have two front line pacers and one front line spinner in the Afghan Playing 11. Naveed Zadran and Fareed Ahmed are expected to be the pacers while AM Ghazanfar will be the best.
Ghazanfar enjoyed a stunning campaign in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, taking 9 wickets in 3 games, including a five-wicket haul, and will be more successful in the Test.