Rashid Khan, who took to the practise field in India over the past few days, will not take to the field with the rest of his team when they face their hosts in the three-match T20I series that gets underway on Thursday.

The 25-year-old, who underwent lower-back surgery a couple of months ago, traveled to Chandigarh with the team and even rolled his arm in the training sessions over the last couple of days, but on the eve of the series opener, Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran confirmed that Rashid will not be playing.

“He is not totally fit, but is traveling with the team,” Zadran said.

“We hope that he gets fit as soon as we expect him to. He’s doing his rehab with the doctor, and we will miss him in the series,” Zadran said.

He stated that while the team will miss having Rashid on the field there are other players who play “good cricket.”

“Others have also played a lot of cricket and I am sure they will perform well. Without Rashid, we will struggle because his experience is crucial to all of us, but this is cricket and you need to be ready for any kind of situation.”

Zadran also said that Mohammed Nabi was “the most experienced” bowler and that hopefully he would play – along with spin duo Noor Ahmad and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.

Afghanistan made its Test debut against India in 2018 – which was the last time the two teams met for a bilateral series.

“Playing against India on their home soil is a difficult task, but we came here to play well against them and show our skills. We have lots of good T20 players, all our boys are playing good cricket, so I am sure they will play well. We will have a good series against India,” Zadran said.

Watch all the action live! Thursday’s match will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana Television and the broadcast will start at 5pm Kabul time.

So for cricket fans in the country, be sure to stay tuned in for all the excitement.