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The Afghanistan National Cricket Team has made a major change to their squad just before the three-match ODI series against India. After impressing everyone in the recent one-off Test, the young fast bowler Mohammad Saleem has been rewarded with a place in the ODI squad.
Saleem’s fearless bowling was one of the few positives for the Afghanistan National Cricket Team in the one-off Test that was won by India by an innings and 300 runs. However, Afghanistan faced massive backlash for humiliating loss. Well, the young pacer consistently bowled at speeds close to 140 km/h on the tough surface for fast bowlers in New Chandigarh.
Mohammad Saleem earns ODI call-up after his heroics in one-off Test against India
Even though Afghanistan suffered a heavy defeat in the one-off Test against India, Mohammad Saleem stood out with his pace, fighting spirit, long spells and ability to trouble India’s batters.
Originally, Saleem was picked only for the one-off Test match, but his six-wicket haul forced the Afghanistan selectors and team management to give him the opportunity in the ODIs as well.
Even during Afghanistan’s latest practice session in Mohali, Saleem looked in good rhythm and troubled the star opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz with sharp pace and extra bounce.
Richard Pybus hails Mohammad Saleem ahead of India ODIs
Now, Mohammad Saleem is expected to play a key role in the upcoming three-match ODI series against India, starting on June 13 in Dharamshala. After the Dharamsala opener, both teams will travel to Lucknow for the second ODI on June 17 before the third and final ODI in Chennai on June 20.
After including the fast bowler in the ODI squad, Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus was full of praise for Saleem’s recent performances and said that the youngster, who has already played two ODIs for the side, has shown plenty of promise against top-quality opposition.
Richard Pybus stated, “He was just fantastic. If you come here and you take six wickets in extreme heat against high-quality batting, that goes very well, not just for him as a bowler, but for us as a side. I don’t have any history with these guys before. So, in terms of their combinations, this is part of my learning curve. I do know that he has had some niggles in the past. So, yeah, it’s just getting them on the park consistently and allowing them to back up these performances.”
Updated squads for India vs Afghanistan ODI series:
Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharotai, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Malik, Bilal Sami, Mohammad Saleem.
India Squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Hardik Pandya
Broadcasting and Live Stream details for IND vs AFG ODI series in India:
Live Streaming: JioHotstar App and Website
TV Telecast: Star Sports Network channels
Match Timings: All matches will start at 1:30 PM IST.