Rashid to become first teenage skipper

Afghanistan's Rashid Khan will become the youngest captain in the history of international cricket when he takes the reigns for the start of their World Cup Qualifier campaign in Zimbabwe this weekend.

Afghanistan have confirmed that Rashid will replace regular skipper Asghar Stanikzai, who will miss the start of the tournament after he was forced to undergo surgery for appendicitis. He is expected to be out of action for 10 days.

Rashid will be 19 years and 165 days for their opening match on Sunday, when he will become the first teenager to captain a men's international side and the youngest player ever, male or female, to captain in a full international match.

Former Bangladesh skipper Rajin Saleh holds the current ODI record having led his country in 2004 at the age of 20 years and 297 days.

It continues a dream beginning to 2018 for Rashid, who was a crucial part of Adelaide's triumphant KFC BBL campaign earlier in the summer.

He then took 16 wickets at 7.93 in Afghanistan’s 4-1 series win over Zimbabwe, seeing him become the youngest man and the only teenager to be ranked No.1 by the International Cricket Council.

And there could be more success for him in Zimbabwe, where could well become the fastest-ever bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets. He currently has 86 from 37 games and is on track to beat Mitchell Starc's record of 52.

Afghanistan are one of the favourites for the 10-team Qualifier tournament, with the top two nations to progress to next year's World Cup in the UK.

The current world No.10 will take on Zimbabwe, Nepal, Hong Kong and Scotland in Group B, with their first game to come against the Scots on Sunday.

Group A consists of West Indies, Ireland, the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Papua New Guinea.

The Afghans laid down a marker for the tournament on Tuesday as fast bowler Dawlat Zadran took a hat-trick in a comfortable warm-up victory over the Windies in Harare.

The Asian side dominated the match, which was reduced to 35-overs-a-side, to win by 29 runs on DLS method.

After rain ensured a shorter game than expected, Gulbadin Naib struck a 38-ball 48 from No.10 to guide Afghanistan to 9-163, setting the two-time World Cup winners 140 to win.

Star batsman Chris Gayle fell for only nine in the Windies' reply, before Zadran claimed the wickets of Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell and Carlos Brathwaite in successive deliveries.

Rashid, who captained in the unofficial match, wrapped up the innings with impressive figures of 2-7 in 3.4 overs.

Elsewhere in Tuesday's warm-up matches, Nepal beat the UAE by five wickets, while there were also wins for the Netherlands and Scotland over Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea respectively.

YOUNGEST INTERNATIONAL CAPTAINS

Men's

Tests - Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe, 20y, 358d
ODIs - Rajin Saleh, Bangladesh, 20y, 297d
T20Is - Rodney Trott, Bermuda, 20y, 332d

Women's

Tests - Ruth Symons, New Zealand, 21y, 136d
ODIs - Arran Thompson, England, 19y, 260d
T20Is - Shemaine Campbelle, West Indies, 19y, 338d