Rashid, Nabicriticise captaincy change ahead of World Cup

The biggest names in Afghanistan cricket globally, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, have taken to Twitter to oppose the captaincy changes of their side, saying the timing was not correct, with the World Cup just around the corner.

This was in response to the Afghanistan Cricket Boardremoving Asghar Afghan as the captain from all three formats, naming RahmatShah (Test), GulbadinNaib (ODI) and Rashid (T20I) as the new leaders.

   

Nabi tweeted in support of Afghan, saying the team had”gelled really well” under the veteran, who had taken over the reinsfrom Nabi, and Rashid called the decision was “irresponsible andbiased”.

Rashid, named captain of the T20I side and vice-captain toNaib for ODIs, was even more scathing in its criticism.

“With all the respect to the Selection Committee, Istrongly disagree with the decision as it is irresponsible & bias,” hetweeted. “As we have @cricketworldcup in front of us, Captain#MAsgharAfghan should remain as our team Captain. His captaincy is highlyinstrumental for team success. With just months to go for such a mega eventlike World Cup, changing the captain will cause uncertainty and also teammorale will be affected. @ashrafghani @afgexecutive @hmohib.”

The reason given by ACB chairman AzizullahFazli for thechange in captaincy ahead of the World Cup was to “introduce change inleadership” in order to compete better against nine Full Members in theglobal tournament.

The change in captaincy is the latest in a series of moves involving the highest levels of the ACB, which – given the senior positions involved – have raised suspicions of interference from outside cricket. A few months ago, the entire top brass of ACB, including the chairman AtifMashal and CEO ShafiqullahStanikzai were removed from their posts suddenly, and AzizullahFazli was given total powers as the board chairman. The removal of Stanikzai was especially surprising as he had led the management since 2014, and oversaw a period of great success for the national team, including Afghanistan earning Full Member status in 2017.

Agencies

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