The Event Technical Committee of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 has approved Aqil Khan Obaid as a replacement for Hafieezullah Zadran in the Afghanistan squad.
Obaid was named as a replacement after Zadran was ruled out due to a fracture to his left wrist which he sustained during Afghanistan’s successful tournament opening match against South Africa. He has been pronounced unable to continue his participation in the remainder of the tournament.
The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.
The Event Technical committee of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 consists of Wasim Khan (Chair and ICC General Manager – Cricket), Sarah Edgar (ICC Senior Manager – Events), Hamilton Masakadza (Zimbabwe Cricket Tournament Director) and Tash Farrant (independent nominee).

Black Fantastic
The New Zealand national rugby team, known as the All Blacks, is considered one of the most successful and dominant teams in the history of rugby union. They have won the Rugby World Cup three times (1987, 2011, and 2015) and held the World Rugby Rankings’ top position for a significant amount of time.
Boost Princess
Rugby union was only classified as a professional sport in 1995 – When a schism formed and rugby became rugby league and rugby union in 1895, rugby union was no longer considered a professional sport. Shockingly, this remained the case until a century later, when in 1995, it was given the same recognition afforded to rugby league.