The Afghanistan Cricket Board on Thursday announced the national squad for the T20I series against Ireland.

Among the team members was Shapoor Zadran, who will return to the team after a year-long hiatus.

The 32-year-old left-handed fast bowler is very well known in Afghanistan, having gained notoriety in the country’s first World Cup win back in 2015. But Zadran hasn’t played for the national team since March 2019.

Afghanistan will face Ireland in three T20Is to be played in Delhi on March 6, 8 and 10 with Asghar Afghan back as full-time captain across formats.

There are a number of younger players in the T20I squad, including Qais Ahmad, the 19-year-old legspinner, who participated in the Big Bash League.

So does Azmatullah Omarzai, who was part of the Under-19 team that made the semi-finals a couple of years ago.

The 19-year-old seam-bowling allrounder has not played any T20 cricket since October 2018, but he has been moving up the ranks in regional 50-over cricket, according to a story by ICC website.

In the September tournament, he became Speen Ghar’s leading wicket-taker with eight strikes at an average of 17.50.

The absence of allrounder Sharafuddin Ashraf in the squad has been criticized by some cricket board members.

Afghanistan T20I squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Karim Janat, Najib Zadran, Asghar Afghan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Shapoor Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, Azmatullah Omarzai, Samiullah Shinwari, Usman Ghani.

source: tolonews