ZIM vs AFG 2024/25, ZIM vs AFG 1st Test Match Preview

Big Picture: Bulawayo’s first Boxing Day Test in 28 years

The keys to success, nonetheless, will still be best known by the experienced heads on both sides. Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Blessing Muzarabani, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, but Rashid Khan has made himself unavailable due to personal reasons for the opening Test. He had originally made himself available for both Tests after recovering from injury, with teen spinner AM Ghazanfar being added to the squad late on Tuesday to accommodate his absence.

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLDLL
Afghanistan ALLLW

In the spotlight: Ben Curran and Ghazanfar

Zimbabwe: 1 Joylord Gumbie (wk), 2 Ben Curran, 3 Dion Myers, 4 Craig Ervine (capt), 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Brian Bennett, 8 Johnathan Campbell / Brandon Mavuta, 9 Blessing Muzarabani, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Newman Nyamhuri

Afghanistan: 1 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 2 Sediqullah Atal, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Bahir Shah / Riaz Hassan, 7 Zia-ur-Rehman, 8 Zahir Khan, 9 Fareed Ahmed, 10 Naveed Zadran, 11 AM Ghazanfar

Bulawayo usually offers dry pitch conditions. The surface largely assists fast bowlers and helps spinners later, but with cloudy conditions expected, the fast bowlers may have a bigger role to play across the five days. Rain is forecast across all five days, especially during the second and third sessions.