Sharjah: ICC Intercontinental Cup champions Afghanistan and three-time former ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier winners Zimbabwe will square-off against each other in a five-match ODI series from Friday.

The series between 10th-ranked Zimbabwe and 11th-ranked Afghanistan, who are separated by just two ranking points, is crucial as both sides are in Group B of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 -- to be played from March 4-25 -- and are scheduled to meet in the tournament proper at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo on March 6.

This means Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will not only aim to give final touches to their preparations in the Sharjah series, but will also aim to carry the winning momentum into the qualifiers, whose finalists will join defending champions Australia, Bangladesh, hosts England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales next year.

The series in Sharjah will also see the return of Zimbabwe’s fast bowler Brian Vitori, as well as Afghanistan’s duo of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shahzad.

Vitori was allowed to resume bowling in international cricket on Jan.20 after remedial work and an independent assessment found his bowling action to be legal, while Shahzad was allowed to return to international cricket on Jan.17 after serving a 12-month suspension for an anti-doping rule violation.

Rashid Khan, who was declared the ICC Associate Cricketer of the Year 2017, has been playing the shortest format of the game in Australia and also appeared in two T20Is earlier this week, but his last ODI for Afghanistan was in December 2017 against Ireland at the same venue.

Rival captains Asghar Stanikzai of Afghanistan and Graeme Cremer of Zimbabwe concurred that the Sharjah matches formed part of an overall strategic objective of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, and also highlighted the significance and importance of the returning star players to their sides’ build-up and make-up for next month’s qualifier.