New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS): Spinner AM Ghazanfar has been added to Afghanistan's squad for its upcoming Test series against Zimbabwe, starting in Bulawayo on Thursday. The development comes after reports emerged of Rashid Khan being unavailable for the Boxing Day game due to personal reasons.

AM Ghazanfar has been added to Afghanistan's squad for the two-match test series against Zimbabwe, with the first one being scheduled to begin tomorrow in Bulawayo,” said the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) through its X post on Wednesday.

Ghazanfar’s maiden call-up to the Test team comes after he picked up impressive figures of 5/33 in the third ODI at Harare Sports Club, which helped Afghanistan secure an eight-wicket win and take a 2-0 series win. Interestingly, Ghazanfar is yet to play a first-class game in his cricketing career.

2024 has been a meteoric year for Ghazanfar, who began by playing for Afghanistan in the U19 Men’s World Cup in South Africa, where he bagged eight wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 3.35 and was followed by his senior ODI debut against Ireland in March.

He then guided Afghanistan A to winning their maiden ACC Men's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup title in 2024, winning the Player of the Match award in the final against Sri Lanka A in Oman.

The series opening game against Afghanistan, to be played at the Queens Sports Club, will be the first time Zimbabwe will be hosting its first Boxing Day Test at home in 28 years. It will be followed by Zimbabwe hosting its first New Year’s Test, scheduled for January 2-6, 2025.

Afghanistan updated Test squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhail, Afsar Zazai, Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ismat Alam, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Zahir Shehzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad Malik and AM Ghazanfar.