Sri Lanka, Afghanistan Name Squads For Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025

Afghanistan Cricket Board's (ACB) National Selection Committee on Wednesday selected the squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025, with Darwish Rasooli set to lead the team. "Afghanistan Cricket Board's National Selection Committee today finalized AfghanAbdalyan's Squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025, which is scheduled to be held from November 14 to 23 in Doha Qatar," said a statement from ACB. "Darwish Rasooli, who captained AfghanAbdalyan to their inaugural title last year, will once again lead the team," the statement added.

The squad features 10 players from the squad that won the previous edition of the tournament, including the likes of Sediqullah Atal, AM Ghazanfar, Bilal Sami, Zubaid Akbari, Mohammad Ishaq, Qais Ahmad and Nangyal Kharoti.

Fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai, who recently made his T20I debut and was part of all three games on the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe, has also been included in the squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup.

AfghanAbdalyan have been placed in Pool B, alongside Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A and Hong Kong, China. Their campaign will begin on November 15 against Sri Lanka A, followed by matches against Bangladesh A on November 17 and Hong Kong, China on November 19.

ACB CEO Naseeb Khan stated: "AfghanAbdalyan have emerged victorious in the previous edition of the event and will be defending their title during this year's event in Doha. We cherish the memories from last year, and with the aim of retaining the title, we have named our squad. I am confident the team will perform well and bring pride to the nation once again."

Afghanistan's Squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025:

Darwish Rasooli (C), Sediqullah Atal (VC), Noor Rahman (WK), Mohammad Ishaq (WK), Zubaid Akbari, Imran Mir, Rahmanullah Zadran, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Nangyal Kharoti, Farmanullah Safi, Qais Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Bilal Sami, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Faridoon Dawoodzai.

Reserves: Wafiullah Tarakhil, Sediqullah Pacha, Yama Arab.

Spin bowling all-rounder Dunith Wellalage named Sri Lanka A skipper for Rising Stars Asia Cup

Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Dunith Wellalage will captain Sri Lanka A in the Rising Stars T20 Asia Cup, in Doha, scheduled to begin on November 14.

The Sri Lanka A squad also features leg-spinners Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Sahan Arachchige, all-rounders Milan Rathnayake and Ramesh Mendis, and top-order batters Nuwanidu Fernando and Nishan Madushka, and seamer Pramod Madushan.

Even though the majority of the players haven't found a consistent place in the senior Sri Lanka team, Wellalage, Nuwanidu, and Madushka have featured regularly in the white-ball format in the past couple of months. Rathnayake contested in Sri Lanka's Test series against Bangladesh in June.

Vishen Halambage, a 20-year-old batting all-rounder who has been called up to the Sri Lanka squad but is yet to make his debut, has also been included in the team. Ramesh Mendis played for Sri Lanka against Australia in a Test in February. Viyaskanth has come close to breaking into the international setup. However, the presence of Wanindu Hasaranga and Jeffrey Vandersay has kept him out of the mix.

The teams have been drafted into two groups: Group A comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka, while Group B includes India, Oman, Pakistan, and the UAE. The Rising Stars Asia Cup will commence with a contest between Pakistan A and Oman. Sri Lanka A will begin their campaign against Afghanistan A on November 15.

Sri Lanka A squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 tournament: Dunith Wellalage (capt.), Vishen Halambage, Nishan Madushka (wk), Nuwanidu Fernando, Lasith Croospulle, Ramesh Mendis, Kavindu de Livera, Sahan Arachchige, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Pramod Madushan, Garuka Sanketh, Isitha Wijesundara, Milan Rathnayake, V Viyaskanth, Traveen Mathew.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket Afghanistan Sri Lanka Cricket Team