Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan has taken a break from Test cricket on medical advice because of an "ongoing injury issue". He was hence not part of the 20-member preliminary Test squad to face New Zealand in the one-off Test in Greater Noida in India, early next month.
"He has taken a break from Tests for now, there's an ongoing injury issue with him," an ACB official told ESPNcricinfo. "So the doctors have advised him to not play Tests for now.
"We don't know if he's out for a year or not. What's confirmed is that he's out for some time, until he recovers properly. So he's not going to play Test cricket until he gets the doctor's approval. Right now, we can't say for how long exactly he's out."
Rashid had undergone back surgery after the ODI World Cup 2023 which kept him out of action for four months during which he missed the BBL, the SA20, and Afghanistan's international assignments against UAE, India, Sri Lanka and Ireland. Since his surgery, he has only played T20s; he returned to action with three T20Is against Ireland before playing the IPL, the T20 World Cup 2024, Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA, the Hundred, and Afghanistan's domestic T20 competition Shpageeza Cricket League.
Participation in these tournaments was also not injury-free. A hamstring injury ruled him out of the last week of the Hundred after he had hurt himself while diving to save a boundary for Trent Rockets. When he went home for the domestic T20s, he picked up a back issue after playing only three of the eight games for Speen Ghar Tigers in the second half of August. Those three games were played on successive days and Rashid picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 5.09. In his third game, Rashid also smashed 53 off just 26 balls out of his side's total of 112 in a truncated match against Amo Sharks.
Rashid last played a Test match in March 2021 and has not featured in 50-over games since the ODI World Cup in India last year.
Rashid's workload management could also be a result of the busy calendar coming up. Afghanistan are slotted to play three ODIs against South Africa in late September in Sharjah, although it isn't known yet if Rashid will be available for those. As per the FTP, Afghanistan are then scheduled to tour Zimbabwe for an all-format tour in December-January for two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. Even though he has opted out of the BBL for the second year in a row, Rashid will represent MI Cape Town in the SA20 which is set to run from January 9 to February 8 before the action moves to the PSL and the IPL.
The Afghanistan Test squad has, meanwhile, begun training in Greater Noida, their adopted home ground, for the Test against New Zealand, which will be the first time that the two teams will be facing each other in the format. This will also be the first Test to be played at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground.