New Delhi [India], October 6 : Afghanistan's young right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Saleem Safi has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh due to a groin overload injury. The series is scheduled to begin on October 8 in Abu Dhabi.
Saleem will undergo rehabilitation at the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) High Performance Centre and is unlikely to recover in time for the series, which kicks off on October 8.
Bilal Sami, a right-arm medium-pace bowler who has played one ODI, has been named as his replacement, ESPNcricinfo reported.
Twenty-three-year-old Saleem has played two ODIs so far, with both of those matches coming against Bangladesh in July 2023. He last played for Afghanistan in his solitary Test, which was against Sri Lanka in Colombo in February 2024.
Sami, replacing the injured Saleem, has played one ODI for Afghanistan, making his debut against Zimbabwe in December 2024. The 21-year-old right-arm medium pacer has an impressive record in List A games, with 44 wickets in 25 matches at an average of 25.72.
Sami also represented Afghanistan Under-19 in the 2022 World Cup, where he took four wickets in five matches.
Sami was recently in action at the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament, Afghanistan's domestic List A competition, which ended in September.
There, he was his team's Speen Ghar Region's second-highest wicket-taker, with ten wickets at an average of 22.90 and an economy rate of 4.97.
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