Afghanistan rocked as Asghar quits in middle of World Cup

Dubai: Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan has announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket, despite the ICC T20 World Cup only reached the midway point. The Afghan star will play his final match against Namibia on Sunday (today).

The 33-year-old in a video message on Facebook said, "I will retire from all international cricket after the game against Namibia".

"I want more and more youngsters to get the opportunity to play for Afghanistan. Therefore, it's expected that tomorrow will be my last international match and afterwards I will resign".

Asghar skippered Afghanistan over all three formats of cricket for six years, before being acrimoniously sacked two weeks before the start of the 2019 World Cup in England.

He eventually won back the captaincy but was axed again in June this year after being blamed for the team's poor form in a Test series in Zimbabwe.

The Afghan star played six Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 74 Twenty20 internationals in a career spread over 12 years.

Moreover, he scored 440 runs in Tests with one hundred while his tally in ODIs was 2,424 with a century and 12 half-centuries.

At the ongoing World Cup, Asghar scored 10 runs in the defeat against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.

"@ACBofficials welcomes and respects his decision, expresses gratitude for his services to the country," tweeted the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).

"It will take a lot of hard work for young Afghan cricketers to fill his shoes," the statement added.

Afghanistan’s ex captain Asghar Afghan who holds the highest winning streak as a captain in T20 internationals surpassing Indian legend Ms Dhoni by one extra win, decides to bid farewell with all formats of cricket in Afghanistan’s third match against Namibia at @T20WorldCup.
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— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) October 30, 2021