Samiullah Shinwari is an Afghan cricketer who represents Afghanistan at the international level. He is a right-handed batsman and leg break bowler. He made his international debut, against Scotland, in April 2009.
Mohammad Asghar Afghan is an Afghan former cricketer who had captained the Afghanistan national cricket team. Asghar is a right-handed batsman and a medium-fast bowler. In May 2018, he was named as the captain of Afghanistan, for their inaugural Test match, against India. He made his Test debut, against India, on 14 June 2018. On 2 August 2018, he changed his last name from Stanikzai to Afghan.
Mohammad Shahzad Mohammadi is a former Afghan cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman and a wicketkeeper. He made his international debut for Afghanistan in August 2009 against the Netherlands.
Aftab Alam is an Afghan international cricketer. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for the Afghanistan national cricket team in early 2010. Alam has been known for his right-arm fast bowling. He made his first-class debut for Mis Ainak Region in the 2017–18 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament on 13 November 2017.
Dawlat Zadran is an Afghan cricketer. Zadran is a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman, though he is better known for his bowling. He was born in Paktia Province.
Gulbadin Naib is an Afghan cricketer. An all-rounder, Naib bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium. In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Naib the team's new One Day International (ODI) captain ahead of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, replacing Asghar Afghan. However, following the Cricket World Cup, where Afghanistan lost all of their matches, Rashid Khan was named as the new captain of the Afghanistan cricket team across all three formats. Naib led Afghanistan to the silver medal in the 2022 Asian Games.
Najibullah Zadran is an Afghan cricketer and the vice captain of the Afghanistan Twenty20 International (T20I) side. Zadran is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off breaks. He made his international debut in July 2012.
Rahmat Shah Zurmatai is an Afghan cricketer who plays for the Afghanistan national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional leg break bowler. He made his international debut in an ODI against Scotland in March 2013. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Afghanistan's first ever Test match, against India, in June 2018. In September 2019, in the one-off Test between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Rahmat scored Afghanistan's first century in Test cricket.
Hashmatullah Shahidi is an Afghan cricketer and currently the captain of Afghanistan national cricket team in One Day International (ODI) and Test cricket. He made his ODI debut for Afghanistan against Kenya in October 2013. Shahidi was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Afghanistan's first ever Test match, against India, in June 2018. He became the first Afghan player to score a test double hundred when he scored 200 not out against Zimbabwe on 11 March 2021.
The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two teams, Afghanistan national cricket team and the West Indies, qualified for the World Cup, joining the hosts and the seven teams who had already qualified through their ranking in the ICC ODI Championship. Afghanistan won the tournament, beating the West Indies by 7 wickets in the final. Afghanistan’s Mohommad Shahzad was named the player of the match and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza was named the player of the tournament.
Zahir Khan is an Afghan cricketer. He made his Test match debut for Afghanistan in September 2019. He made his first-class debut for Afghanistan against Papua New Guinea in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup on 21 November 2015. He represented Afghanistan in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Ihsanullah is an Afghan cricketer who plays as a right-handed opening batsman. He made his first-class debut for Afghanistan against the Netherlands in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup on 29 July 2016. Prior to his first-class debut, he captained the Afghanistan U-19 team in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He made his Test cricket debut in March 2019. Ihsanullah is the younger brother of former Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal.
Hazratullah Zazai is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in December 2016. In February 2019, he scored an unbeaten 162 runs off 62 balls against Ireland, which is the highest individual score by an Afghan batsman in a Twenty20 International.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman Zadran is an Afghan cricketer, who plays for the Afghanistan national cricket team. Two months after his international debut, at the age of 16 years and 325 days, he became the youngest player to take a five-wicket haul in a One Day International. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Afghanistan's first Test match, against India, in June 2018. Afghanistan lost the one-sided Test within two days. Mujeeb scored 15 and 3 in the two innings, respectively, and got one wicket after conceding 75 runs. It was also Mujeeb's first-class cricket debut. His uncle, Noor Ali Zadran, is also an Afghan international cricketer.
The Zimbabwe cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates to play the Afghanistan cricket team in February 2018 to play two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) and five One Day International (ODI) matches. Initial reports suggested that it would include Afghanistan's first Test match since being awarded Test status by the International Cricket Council in June 2017, but instead the tour consisted of just limited overs matches. An official from Zimbabwe Cricket said that both sides were still in talks to play a Test match, but that would be at some point after the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
The Afghanistan cricket team toured Scotland in May 2019 to play two One Day International (ODI) matches. In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Gulbadin Naib as the team's new ODI captain, replacing Asghar Afghan.
The Afghanistan cricket team played the West Indies cricket team in India in November and December 2019 to play one Test, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. It was the first Test match that Afghanistan played against the West Indies. The two teams had played each other ten times before, with the majority of matches in the Caribbean, with this being Afghanistan's fourth Test match. All the matches were played at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The Afghanistan cricket team toured Zimbabwe in June 2022 to play three One Day International (ODI) matches and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The ODI series formed part of the inaugural 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. In April 2022, Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed the fixtures for the tour. The following month, the tour itinerary was changed slightly, bringing the matches forward by one week and reducing the number of T20Is from five to three.
The Zimbabwe cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates in March 2021 to play two Test and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches against Afghanistan. It was the first time the two teams had played a Test match against each other. Ahmed Shah Pakteen was named as the on-field umpire for both Tests, becoming the first Afghan umpire to officiate in Test cricket.
The Ireland cricket team toured the West Indies in January 2022 to play three One Day International (ODI) matches and a one-off Twenty20 International (T20I) match. The ODI series formed part of the inaugural 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. On 6 December 2021, the full schedule for the tour was confirmed by both cricket boards. Ireland last toured the West Indies in January 2020. Prior to the series, the Irish team were scheduled to play five white ball matches against the United States in Florida. However, the ODI matches were cancelled due to COVID-19 cases within the squads.
