The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the squad for the ODI and T20I series against Bangladesh. Left-arm pacer Fazlhaq Farooqui and all-rounders Gulbadin Naib and Karim Zainer have not been included in the squad.

After the Asia Cup, the two teams will play a three-match T20 series in the United Arab Emirates starting on October 2. After that, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will also play a three-match ODI series.

Afghanistan, who were eliminated from the Asia Cup group stage, have given a chance to the youngsters ahead of next year's T20 World Cup. Left-arm pacer Bashir Ahmed has been brought in to replace Farooqui. The 20-year-old cricketer is yet to make his international debut. Bashir has played 14 T20Is in domestic cricket and has taken 12 wickets at an economy rate of 9.06.

Another new face in the T20 squad is top-order batsman Wafi Ullah Tarkhil. The 18-year-old cricketer recently caught the eye in the Shpagiza Cricket League, where he scored 298 runs in 9 innings at an average of 37.25 and a strike rate of 155.20, the third highest in the league.

Pacer Abdullah Ahmadzai has also been brought back into the team. He was in the reserve team for the Asia Cup. Apart from this, mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar has been included in the ODI team but has not been included in the T20I team. He will remain there as a reserve.

"After a long six-month break from international cricket after the ICC Champions Trophy, we are now going to start a busy season in T20. This opportunity will help the team prepare well for next year's ICC T20 World Cup. Our performance in the 2025 Asia Cup was not as expected. But ups and downs are part of the game. We hope that the Afghans will bounce back and make our country proud," said ACB Chief Executive Nasib Khan.

Three T20Is will be held in Sharjah on October 2, 3 and 5. Then the ODI series will begin in Abu Dhabi on October 8. The next two matches at the same venue are on October 11 and 14.

In this year's Asia Cup, both Bangladesh and Afghanistan played in Group 'B'. Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by 8 runs in the match held in Abu Dhabi.