Afghanistan appoint Noor-ul-Haq Malekzai as chief selector

Former Afghanistan middle-order batter Noor-ul-Haq Malikzai has been appointed as the chief selector of the senior side by the Afghanistan Cricket Board. Malikzai had been serving as the interim selector for the last three months after Asadullah Khan stepped down from the role and he has done a good job so far. Afghanistan youth side was impressive at the U19 World Cup 2022 and a lot of young talent has been identified from the ranks. Malikzai had played for Afghanistan in two One day Internationals in 2010 and featured in two editions of the ICC U19 World Cup in 2010 and 2012 respectively. He has also played 18 First-Class, 13 List-A, & 8 T20s games. Although he is just 29-years-old, he moved on from playing the game three years back in 2019. He first came into the scene after an excellent outing in the U19 World Cup qualifiers where he averaged 54 in 7 games.

Malikzai has been aspiring to find out the right talent and provide them with an extended run of opportunities. He added that the long terms goals will also have to be worked upon to take the country forward in terms of performance.

“We have a busy 2022, and as a team we will be working on to not only address our short-term needs but also achieve our long-term goals. We have enormous talent in the country and it is important that they are provided with proper opportunities,” Malikzai was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

ACB CEO Impressed with Malikzai’s tenure as interim chief selector

Afghanistan Cricket Board’s chief executive officer Naseeb has heaped praises on Malikzai’s efforts during his tenure as interim chief selector and noted the selections for the Netherlands and Bangladesh series were great. He also stressed about the U19 Asia Cup and U19 World Cup squad having an array of talent and credited Malikzai for his selections.

“Malikzai has had quite an impressive tenure as the acting chief selector and has shown great spirit during the selection of the teams for the U19 Asia Cup and U19 World Cup as well as for our recent squad selections for the Netherlands and Bangladesh series. I would like to congratulate him and wish him all the very best for the future.” Naseeb Khan, ACB CEO was quoted as saying