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Afghanistan suffered a major blow as fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was ruled out of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025 due to a shoulder injury.
Naveen was initially named in Afghanistan’s Asia Cup squad after missing out on the tri-series featuring UAE and Pakistan. However, he was unable to recover from a shoulder injury and was eventually ruled out of the tournament.
The announcement came via the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) statement.
“The ACB wishes Naveen Ul Haq a speedy recovery and extends its best wishes to Abdullah Ahmadzai for the matches ahead,” the board said in a statement.
“Naveen will return home to continue to undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation,” it added.
Naveen-ul-Haq last played for Afghanistan in December 2024 against Zimbabwe in a T20I. He is a regular in global T20 leagues after having announced his retirement from One Day International (ODI) cricket in 2023.
Nonetheless, fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai is inducted into the Afghanistan squad as Naveen’s replacement. The pacer recently made his international debut in the match against UAE.
Afghanistan has started strongly with a big win over Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2025 after losing the tri-series final against Pakistan. They defeated them comprehensively by 93 runs.
Their next fixtures are scheduled against Bangladesh on September 16 and against Sri Lanka on September 18.
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
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