Sharafuddin Ashraf

A slow left-arm orthodox spinner, Ashraf has the ability to pick up wickets at crucial junctures. Ashraf caught the eyes of the selectors in the 2014 U-19 World Cup and was part of the playing XI that defeated Sri Lanka and Australia in the same tournament. 

The following year he was rewarded with a place in the national side for the away series against Zimbabwe. In a practice game against Zimbabwe A, the spinner used the conditions to his full use and scalped 6 wickets to rattle the opposition top order.

He finally made his ODI debut in the first match of the series but went wicketless as Afghanistan lost the match by 6 wickets.

Though he continued to perform well for the Afghans but narrowly missed out on the 15-member squad for the 2015 World Cup.

Ashraf was the leading wicket-taker in the 2018 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One-Day Tournament. As a result, he was back in the Afghanistan squad for the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers. He managed to pick up only 3 wickets in the seven matches of the tournament.

The following year he was named in the Afghanistan squad for the one-off Test match against India, but he did not feature in the match.

A talented spinner, Ashraf has not quite lived up to the hype he generated back in the 2014 U-19 World Cup. Still relatively young, Ashraf has the time to refine his skills and become one of the leading bowlers for his country.

(As of Mar 2021)