The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Monday sacked Asghar Afghan from the post of captain of the national team. In an official release, the ACB said, "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."
According to ACB, left-handed Hashmatullah Shahidi has been appointed as the new ODI and Test captain of the national team, while Rahmat Shah will serve as the vice-captain for both formats. In addition, it was decided that all-rounder Rashid Khan would remain the vice-captain of the T20 team, while the decision to appoint a new captain would be taken soon.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwe had defeated Afghanistan by 10 wickets within two days in the first Test. In the second innings of this match, five Afghan batsmen were dismissed for ducks. After this, Afghanistan made a spectacular comeback to level the series by winning the second Test by six wickets.
Former captain Afghan scored 164 runs in the second Test, while Shahidi scored a double century in the second Test. During this time, he became the first batsman to score a double century for Afghanistan in Test cricket. The Shahidi-led team will tour Australia later this year and play their first Test in Australia from November 27 in Hobart.
