Naveen ul Haq Archives

Major blow for Afghanistan as key player ruled out of Asia Cup 2025

Afghanistan suffered a major blow as fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was ruled out of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025 due to a shoulder injury.

Naveen was initially named in Afghanistan’s Asia Cup squad after missing out on the tri-series featuring UAE and Pakistan. However, he was unable to recover from a shoulder injury and was eventually ruled out of the tournament.

The announcement came via the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) statement.

“The ACB wishes Naveen Ul Haq a speedy recovery and extends its best wishes to Abdullah Ahmadzai for the matches ahead,” the board said in a statement.

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“Naveen will return home to continue to undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation,” it added.

Naveen-ul-Haq last played for Afghanistan in December 2024 against Zimbabwe in a T20I. He is a regular in global T20 leagues after having announced his retirement from One Day International (ODI) cricket in 2023.

Nonetheless, fast bowler Abdullah Ahmadzai is inducted into the Afghanistan squad as Naveen’s replacement. The pacer recently made his international debut in the match against UAE.

Afghanistan has started strongly with a big win over Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2025 after losing the tri-series final against Pakistan. They defeated them comprehensively by 93 runs.

Their next fixtures are scheduled against Bangladesh on September 16 and against Sri Lanka on September 18.

Afghanistan Updated Asia Cup 2025 Squad

Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

READ: PCB demands removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from Asia Cup

Naveen-ul-Haq set to join Peshawar Zalmi squad

Afghanistan’s star pace bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has confirmed that he will soon join the Peshawar Zalmi squad for the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9.

Naveen-ul-Haq took to his Instagram story and shared an update about his participation in PSL 9.

His presence will definitely boost the pace attack of Peshawar Zalmi, who are currently at the bottom of the points table with two losses in two games.

They conceded 206 runs against Quetta Gladiators in their opening game of PSL 9 and failed to chase the total, losing by 16 runs.

In the next game, they were bowled out at a meagre 154 against Karachi Kings, who successfully chased the total with 19 balls to spare.

Peshawar Zalmi started the defence of the paltry total on a good note as Luke Wood removed Karachi Kings’ captain Shan Masood with 20 runs on the board.

Mohammad Akhlaq played a quick cameo of 24 from 13 balls that featured three boundaries and two sixes before Wood struck again to send him back.

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With the scoreboard reading 40-2, Shoaib Malik and James Vince constructed an anchoring 51-run stand from 46 balls to put the Kings back on track.

Malik scored run-a-ball 29 before he came down the track to attempt an ambitious loft to Waqar Salamkheil, only to get stumped.

Kieron Pollard joined Vince and made sure to get the Zalmi out of the game with a blistering cameo of 49 runs from 21 balls, including 27 runs in one over of Salamkheil.

Pollard smashed eight boundaries, including four sixes to guide his team to victory, while Vince scored 38 off 30 with the help of three boundaries and one six.

Peshawar Zalmi will next face table-toppers Multan Sultans on February 23 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

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Afghanistan sanction three players over request to opt out of central contract

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has sanctioned Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen Ul Haq over their desire to be released from the annual central contracts on Monday.

The ACB announced that the spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, as well as pace bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen Ul Haq, will not be granted NOCs (no-objection certificates) for any franchise league for the next two years, as well as revokement of their current NOCs.

Afghanistan board through a statement also announced to delay their annual contract after these players expressed to opt out of central contracts and play more franchise cricket.

“The insistence on not signing the central contract for these players was their involvement in commercial leagues, prioritising their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan, which is regarded as a national responsibility,” the board statement added.

“By opting for their release, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has decided to take disciplinary measures against these players.”

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The statement further shed light on the fact that the decision to sanction the trio stems from their prioritization of league cricket over national duty.

“The decision by the Afghanistan Cricket Board is made with a focus on national priorities, aligned with the ACB’s core values and principles,” the statement further said.

“It highlights the necessity for every player to maintain the ACB’s principles and prioritise the country’s interests above their personal ones.”

Notably, Naveen-ul-Haq was picked by Peshawar Zalmi during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 Draft held earlier this month, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi remained unpicked.

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Naveen-ul-Haq to retire from ODI cricket after ICC World Cup 2023

KABUL: Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq announced to retire from ODI cricket after the conclusion of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023, scheduled to commence on October 5.

Naveen, 24, who made his ODI debut in 2016 and represented Afghanistan in seven matches, made the announcement on his Instagram account.

“It has been an absolute honour to represent my country would like to announce my retirement from ODI format at end of this World Cup and will continue to wear this blue jersey in t20 cricket for my country,” wrote Naveen-ul-Haq.

“It hasn’t been an easy decision to make but to prolong my playing career had to take this tough decision would like to thank [Afghanistan Cricket Board] and all my fans for their support and unwavering love,” he added.

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A post shared by Naveen ul haq Murid (@naveen_ul_haq)

For the unversed, Naveen-ul-Haq last represented Afghanistan in an ODI game back in 2021 and was initially left out of their squad for the ICC World Cup 2023.

In January last year, the right-arm pacer said that he was taking a break from the 50-over format and was consequently not picked in the Afghanistan since then.

He was then named in the Afghanistan squad for the ICC World Cup 2023, to form a part of their pace attack along with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai.

It is pertinent to mention that Naveen-ul-Haq picked up 14 wickets in his brief ODI career at 25.42 with the best bowling figures of 4/42 which came against Ireland in 2021.

Afghanistan will kick off their ICC World Cup 2023 campaign against Bangladesh on October 7 after their warm-up fixtures against South Africa on September 29 and Sri Lanka on October 3.

Afghanistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023: Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil,Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-Ul-Haq

Reserves: Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad

READ: Babar Azam retains top ODI ranking despite Shubman Gill’s threat

Naveen quits BBL after Australia’s withdrawal from Afghanistan ODIs

Afghanistan’s Naveem-ul-Haq decided to leave the BigBash League in response to Cricket Australia’s decision to withdraw from the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, scheduled in UAE in March, citing increased restrictions on women’s rights under Taliban rule.

Taking to Twitter, Naveen, who represents Sydney Sixers in BBL, said he would no longer be part of the league after the withdrawal announcement by the Australian board, terming it a ‘childish decision’.

“Time to say won’t be participating in big bash after this until they stop these childish decisions that’s how they went about the one off test now ODI when a country is going through so much in place off being supportive you want to take the only reason of happiness from them” he tweeted soon after the Cricket Australia’s (CA) pull-out decision.

time to say won’t be participating in big bash after this until they stop these childish decisions that’s how they went about the one off test now ODI when a country is going through so much in place off being supportive you want to take the only reason of happiness from them #CA

— Naveen ul haq Murid (@imnaveenulhaq) January 12, 2023

CA on Thursday announced that the decision to pull out of the series was taken in the wake of the Taliban’s recent announcement regarding further restrictions on women and girls’ education and employment.

“Following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Australian Government, Cricket Australia has decided that it is unable to proceed at this time with the upcoming ICC Super League three-match Men’s ODI series between Australia and Afghanistan scheduled for the UAE in March 2023,” the CA statement said.

“This decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms.”

Following the withdrawal from the series, Australia will forfeit 30 points to Afghanistan in the ICC ODI Super League. however, they have already secured automatic qualification to the ODI World Cup in India in October by being one of the top eight ranked nations in the Super League.

It is worth mentioning here that this is the second time Australia have cancelled a bilateral fixture with Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021.

Earlier they postponed the one-off Test against the side scheduled to be played in Hobart in November 2021, however, they did play Afghanistan in Adelaide during the last year’s T20 World Cup.

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