Five Afghan players, including Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Gulbadin Naib, landed late in the UAE
Tilg Zimbabwe he won the toss and chose bowl vs. Afghanistan
Zimbabwean captain Sean Williams called right at the toss and decided to field Afghanistan for bats in the first T20I in Abu Dhabi. Tarisai Musakanda and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe are expected to open for Zimbabwe without their regular opening pair Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha, while player Brandon Mavuta finds a place in the T20I playing XI for the first time since October 2018.
The visa issue, due to the fact that five members of the Afghan team, including Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Gulbadin Naib, landed late in the UAE, forced them to apply XI for several changes. Hashmatullah Shahidi, who made a double record in the second Test against the same opponents last week, will play his first T20I game since he appeared once in 2013, while the spinner was an arm leftist Karim Janat, who played T20I in late 2017, also returns.
The two-game Test series ended before the T20Is 1-1.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fareed Malik
Zimbabwe: Tarisai Musakanda, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Sean Williams (capt), Wesley Madhevere, Sikandar Raza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Ryan Burl, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava