Asia Cup 2025: Afghanistan's Naveen Ul Haq ruled out; Replacement named

Naveen ul Haq is still recovering from his shoulder injury.

In a massive blow to Afghanistan, their fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has been ruled out of the remainder of Asia Cup 2025. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), confirmed the development on Monday, 15th September.

Naveen Ul Haq missed Afghanistan’s first match of the tournament against Hong Kong. He had also missed out on the T20I Tri-Series they played against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan prior to the continental tournament in the UAE.

Notably, he last played a T20I for Afghanistan in December 2024 against Zimbabwe. He was last seen playing in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA in June.

Afghanistan bring in Abdollah Ahmadzai as Naveen Ul Haq’s replacement

With Naveen getting ruled out of the remainder of Asia Cup 2025, ACB has drafted in Abdollah Ahmadzai, who was named in the reserves, as replacement. Ahmadzai made his T20I debut earlier this month against the UAE in the T20I Tri-series, where he scalped one wicket.

While confirming Naveen’s ouster from remainder of the tournament, the ACB stated:

“Naveen will continue to undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation until he is fully fit.”

Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad are the other specialist pacers in Afghanistan squad for Asia Cup 2025. Apart from them, they have three fast bowling all-rounders in Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat.

Afghanistan updated squad for Asia Cup 2025:

Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq (Wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (C), Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmed, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Allah Ghazanfar, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Abdollah Ahmadzai

Afghanistan crushed Hong Kong in their opening game by 94 runs

Meanwhile, Afghanistan started their Asia Cup 2025 campaign with a bang as they crushed Hong Kong in the tournament opener by 94 runs. With half-centuries by Sediqullah Atal (73*) and Azmatullah Omarzai (53), they piled up 188/6 in the first innings. Later, they restricted Hong Kong for 94/9 in the second innings, with two wickets each by Fazalhaq Farooqi and Gulbadin Naib.

With two points and Net Run Rate (NRR) of +4.700, Afghanistan hold the top spot in group B points table. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong are other teams in the same group. Afghanistan will clash with Bangladesh in their next game of the tournament on September 16. The encounter will be played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

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