Afghanistan’s left-arm medium pacer Sayed Ahmad Shirzad has replaced Aftab Alam in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 squad after the latter was sent back home by the country’s Cricket Board due to disciplinary issues.
In a statement released by the ICC, they have allowed the aforementioned “in exceptional circumstances”.
“The International Cricket Council has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Sayed Ahmad Shirzad as a replacement player for Aftab Alam in Afghanistan’s squad for the remainder of the tournament,” the ICC said in a statement.
“The decision to send Alam back from England has been taken under exceptional circumstances taking into account both ICC and ACB’s code of conduct rules and regulations. The decision stops Alam from further participating in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as he will be under investigation by ACB for the alleged misconduct off the field,” the release from ACB stated.
SQUAD NEWS: Another change in the Afghanistan squad, as left-armer Sayed Shirzad comes in for Aftab Alam. #CWC19 | #AfghanAtalan pic.twitter.com/e6IzicptM8
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 27, 2019
The Afghanistan Cricket Board, on the other hand, decided not to elaborate on the topic. Alam, a right-arm pacer, played three of Afghanistan’s seven games in the World Cup. Picking four wickets during the tenure, his best performance came against New Zealand where he returned with the figures of 3/45.
Shirzad, 24, made his debut against Ireland this year, but couldn’t showcase his skill with either bat or ball as the game in Dehradun was washed out. The 24-year-old, however, has played in the Afghanistan Premier League and came up with 23 wickets in 13 T20s at an average of 16.78.
Meanwhile, having lost all of their seven games in the World Cup, Afghanistan have already bowed out of the tournament.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / CricketIreland
