Mohammad Saleem picked 6/140 in the only Test against India.
Mohammad Saleem, the Afghanistan pacer, who took a six-wicket haul in the recent only Test against India, has been rewarded for his performance as he has been added to the Afghanistan ODI squad for the upcoming three-ODI series.
The three-ODI series will begin in Dharamshala on June 13, with the other two games to be played on June 17 and June 20 in Lucknow and Chennai, respectively.
Saleem was originally simply a member of Afghanistan's test squad. He took six wickets in the one-off Test against India in New Chandigarh. Despite the terrible heat, he consistently reached 140kph and bowled long spells on a wicket that provided little for fast bowlers. He was one of the visitors' few bright lights during their innings-and-350-run humiliation.
On Wednesday, he was also spotted rushing Rahmanullah Gurbaz with a short-of-good-length delivery during the practice session. However, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan were absent from the team's most recent practice in Mohali.
Rashid is expected to join the squad in Dharamsala, while Nabi, who is currently with the squad, is ill.
"He was just fantastic. If you come here and you take six wickets in extreme heat against high-quality batting, that goes very well, not just for him as a bowler, but for us as a side,” Afghan coach Richard Pybus said of Mohammad Saleem's Test performance, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Although Mohammad Saleem, a fast bowler from Baghlan, has already participated in two ODIs for Afghanistan, he is yet to take his first wicket in the format.
On July 5, 2023, he made his ODI debut in Chattogram against Bangladesh. Saleem bowled 4.2 overs in that game and gave up 36 runs without taking a wicket. On July 8, 2023, he made his second and most recent ODI appearance at Chattogram against Bangladesh. That time, he bowled six overs, conceded 34 runs, and ended up wicketless once more.
Afghanistan’s squad for the 3-match ODI series against India:
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Malik, Bilal Sami, Mohammad Saleem