Asghar Afghan reinstated as Afghanistan captain in all formats

The Afghanistan Cricket Board have taken the call to reinstate Asghar Afghan as the captain of the team in all the three formats of the game. He will replace leg-spinner Rashid Khan who was leading the side after a disastrous performance at the 2019 World Cup in England.

Afghan was relieved from his leadership duties just three months prior to the World Cup. The move was highly controversial, with many players coming out in Afghan’s support. He was replaced at the helm by Gulbadin Naib who himself was sacked after poor performances at the World Cup. Rahmat Shah was appointed the skipper of the Test side, with Rashid Khan being handed the reins of the T20I team. After the World Cup fiasco though, Khan was appointed the skipper across all formats.

ACB made the move after a process of consultation with team management. A short statement was then released on Twitter, which read:

“As per the decision by ACB Top management, Senior player Asghar Afghan is reappointed as team Afghanistan’s Captain across formats.”

Under Naib’s leadership, Afghanistan played a total of 12 ODIs, losing 10 of them. Rashid Khan was recently in charge for the series against West Indies. Afghanistan were whitewashed 3-0 in the ODI series but bounced back to win the T20I series 2-1. They also lost the one-off Test match.

Afghan has been a legendary figure in the circles of Afghanistan cricket, with his leadership mettle being highly praised. He has represented his country in 4 Test matches, 111 ODIs and 66 T20Is. He has led the team in 56 ODIs, winning 36 while only losing 21 matches.