Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has appointed Rashid Khan as their new Men’s T20I captain. He will lead them in the ICC T20 World Cup, starting 17 October in Oman and the UAE. Najibullah Zadran will be Rashid’s deputy in the tournament.
ACB confirmed the development in a statement: ‘All-rounder Rashid Khan has been appointed the T20I captain of Team Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Najibullah Zadran has been appointed the National Team’s Vice-captain for the format.’
Responding to that, Rashid showed his gratitude to ACB via Twitter and said it is a ‘dream journey’ for him. ‘…it is my duty now to serve my country & my team.’
Rashid, the second-ranked T20I bowler in the world, had refused to take Afghanistan’s full-time captaincy role last month. He explained that he wanted to be more valuable as a member than the leader in the squad.
Rashid led his country 16 times before, in 2019. He won seven out of them in that period, the most famous being Afghanistan’s historic Test match win on Bangladesh soil. He was later replaced by Asghar Afghan after Afghanistan lost to West Indies in a Test match and an ODI series.
Afghanistan will play England, India and South Africa in group B for the T20 World Cup. The other two teams of the group will be preferred from the Qualifiers, which will take place in Oman.