FILE PHOTO: Cricket - India v Afghanistan - Afghanistan Team's Press Conference - Bengaluru, India – June 13, 2018 – Afghanistan's former cricket team captain Asghar Stanikzai (C), Afghanistan cricket team coach Phil Simmons (L) and Afghanistan's National Team Manager Shir Agha Hamkar address a news conference. (Source: Reuters) The Afghanistan Cricket Board has stripped Asghar Afghan of the national team captaincy, blaming him for losing the test match against Zimbabwe in March at Abu Dhabi.
The ACB said in a statement on Monday 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 ACB didn’t highlight any particular decision made by Afghan during the match but said the decision to remove him from the captaincy was taken on the basis of an “investigation conducted by ACB’s investigative committee.”
Zimbabwe thumped Afghanistan by 10 wickets inside two days in the first Test before Afghanistan leveled the series by winning the second Test by six wickets.
Left-handed batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi was appointed as new test and ODI captain while Rahmat Shah will be Shahid’s deputy in both formats.
Top-ranked Twenty20 leg-spinner Rashid Khan was named vice-captain for T20s while the ACB said it will soon announce a captain for the format.
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