Afghanistan removes Asghar Afghan from captaincy

The ACB has also decided to go for split captaincy across formats; Gulbadin Naib, Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan will lead the ODI, Test and T20I side respectively.

Asghar Afghan (left) and Rashid Khan after securing their maiden victory in the Test match against Ireland in Dehradun.

Ahead of the World Cup, Afghanistan sacked its captain, Asghar Afghan, and named Gulbadin Naib as the skipper of the ODI team. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), in a major development, has also decided to go for split captaincy across formats, thereby removing Asghar as the captain from all formats.

While Naib will lead the team in the World Cup, Rahmat Shah will be in charge of the Test side. Rashid Khan will take over the T20I reins. The move comes just a month before the World Cup, which starts in England from May 30.

Among Afghanistan's newly appointed captains, only Rashid has prior experience of captaining the national team. The spinner all-rounder has led Afghanistan in four ODIs. Afghanistan also named Rashid, Shafiqullah Shafiq and Hashmatullah Shahidi as vice captains for ODIs, T20Is and Test cricket respectively.

Gulbadin Naib.

 

Asghar, who replaced Mohammad Nabi as skipper in 2015, had a highly successful stint in the role. Under his captaincy, Afghanistan made its Test debut, and most recently, secured a historic maiden Test victory against Ireland in Dehradun.

Afghanistan is scheduled to travel to South Africa for a three-week camp to start the World Cup preparations. Following that it will tour Scotland and Ireland in May to play two ODIs each.