New Delhi, March 15 (IANS): Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan feels happy to be on the cricket field after being fully recovered from the back injury and subsequent surgery that has kept him out of action since the 2023 World Cup. Rashid Khan was named skipper of Afghanistan's 15-member squad for the upcoming Ireland T20Is starting on Friday.

Due to the injury, Rashid had to miss time playing in the Big Bash League, the SA20, Afghanistan's tour against the UAE, India, and Sri Lanka, and now the Test and ODI matches against Ireland. In January, he had gone to India with the team, but he was not yet ready to play.

Sharing a video of a practice session on Instagram ahead of the first T2OI, Rashid showed his love for cricket and thanked his supporters for the wishes. “The one thing that will always give me the most amount of joy is being on the cricket field!” Rashid wrote on Instagram.

“Thank you to everyone for your wishes, super happy to be back bowling and excited for my game tonight,” he added.

With 11 wickets at the ODI World Cup, Rashid was Afghanistan's top wicket-taker. As Afghanistan gets ready for their next major international assignment—the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies in June—it will be encouraging if he can come in and start working right away.

The Gujarat Titans begin their 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season on March 24 and will be happy with Rashid back in the cricketing field.