The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has sacked Asghar Afghan from captaincy post of the national team and blamed him for the loss in the first Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi in March.
Issuing a statement, the ACB said that “some of Afghan’s decisions as captain of the team resulted in Afghanistan’s loss to Zimbabwe in the first test of the series.”
“The decision to remove Asghar Afghan from captaincy was taken based on an investigation conducted by ACB’s Investigative committee which concluded that some of Afghan’s decisions as the captain of the team resulted in Afghanistan’s loss to Zimbabwe in the first Test of the series between both sides in Abu Dhabi in March,” the ACB said in its statement.
The board said the decision to remove him from the captaincy was taken on the basis of an “investigation conducted by ACB’s investigative committee.”
Significantly, Zimbabwe had thrashed Afghanistan by 10 wickets inside two days in the first Test before Afghanistan leveled the series by winning the second Test by six wickets.
Meanwhile, left-handed batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi was appointed as new Test and ODI skipper while Rahmat Shah will be Shahid’s deputy in both formats.
On the other hand, Rashid Khan, the number one ranked T20I spinner, was named vice-captain for T20Is while the captain for this format will be announced later.