Afghanistan cricket team might have managed to show a brilliant performance on the field in recent times but off-field issues are certainly creating a big headache. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has been looking for a replacement for head coach Graham Thorpe, reported Espncricinfo.
The 52-year-old has been severely ill and will not be able to handle the coaching responsibilities in near future, the report added.
Thorpe was appointed as Afghanistan’s head coach in March. Thorpe was hired as a full-term replacement for Lance Klusener. Former South Africa all-rounder, Klusener, had resigned in November after finishing a two-year stint with the Afghanistan cricket team. Previously, Thorpe had a 10-year-long association with the English cricket team. His tenure eventually came to an end after England’s humiliating 4-0 Ashes defeat against Australia.
“The ACB had launched the recruitment process for hiring a new head coach, through which Graham Thorpe was selected as the best available nominee for the position,” the ACB had said in a press release back in March.
Meanwhile, AC has roped in Ryan Maron as their national fielding coach for a period of six months. Previously, Maron was associated with the West Indies cricket team as their fielding coach.
Right now, the board has picked Raees Khan Ahmadzai as interim coach. During his tenure, Afghanistan took part in three ODIs and T20Is each against Zimbabwe. And, the team produced a stupendous show to win all six matches during that tour. The visitors scripted whitewash in both the T2OI and ODI series.
Afghanistan team will now take on Ireland in a five-match T20I series scheduled to kick off from August 9. Initially, the tour was slated to have one Test match and three ODIs but keeping the upcoming T20 World Cup in mind the fixtures had to be altered.
After the completion of the series against Ireland, Afghanistan will take part in the high-profile T20 World Cup in Australia. They will start their T20 World Cup campaign with a group-stage fixture against England scheduled to be played on October 22.
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