Former India player Ajay Jadeja has been named as the mentor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the upcoming World Cup 2023, slated to take place in India from October 5 to November 19. Informing about the same, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) posted a few pictures where Jadeja was spotted wearing Afghanistan’s support staff jersey.
“ACB Appointed former Indian Captain and middle-order batter Ajay Jadeja as AfghanAtalan's Mentor for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023”, ACB wrote.
Jadeja has a lot of experience as he played for India in 15 Tests and 196 ODIs, including the 1996 & 1999 World Cups. He collected 5935 runs across formats, including six centuries and 34 fifties. He was also a handy medium pacer, scalping 20 wickets in ODIs. Back him 2015, Jadeja gave his service as the head coach of the Delhi cricket team. The 52-year-old is a popular cricket commentator.
Afghanistan’s first warm-up game against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram was called off due to rain on September 29. Their next warm-up game is against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on October 3.
Afghanistan fixture and squad for World Cup 2023
Match 3: October 7 - Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, 10:30 AM IST
Match 9: October 11 - India vs Afghanistan, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 2:00 PM IST
Match 13: October 15 - England vs Afghanistan, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 2:00 PM IST
Match 16: October 18 - New Zealand vs Afghanistan, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 2:00 PM IST
Match 22: October 23 - Pakistan vs Afghanistan, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 2:00 PM IST
Match 30: October 30 - Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, 2:00 PM IST
Match 34: November 3 - Netherlands vs Afghanistan, Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, 2:00 PM IST
Match 39: November 7 - Australia vs Afghanistan, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 2:00 PM IST
Match 42: November 10 - South Africa vs Afghanistan, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM IST
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.