Afghanistan have confirmed that the country’s talisman Rashid Khan has been appointed as the skipper of the T20I side, despite the latter, last month, claiming that captaincy affected his performances. Rashid has already previously led Afghanistan in 7 T20Is between September and November 2019.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has taken a u-turn as Rashid Khan has been appointed the captain of the T20I side. Last month, ACB announced that it’s introducing split captaincy in the country, and appointed Hashmatullah Shahidi the skipper of the ODI and Test sides. The board did not appoint the T20I captain, but it did, however, appoint a T20I vice-captain in the form of Rashid Khan, who publicly expressed that his performances were affected by the burden of captaincy.
However, a month on, ACB has taken a u-turn as Rashid has been appointed the new T20I captain of the country. The leg-spinner took to Twitter to confirm the same, and thanked the ACB for providing him with the opportunity to lead the country.
“I’m a great believer that a captain is as good as his team. It is Afghanistan Flag of Afghanistan that gave me the name RASHID KHAN & it is my duty now to serve my country & my team. Thank you @ACBofficials for the trust & believing in me. It is a dream journey & my fans support will be the key,” Rashid tweeted on Tuesday.
Captaincy is not something new for Rashid, who, apart from leading Afghanistan in ODIs and Tests, has led his country in 7 T20Is. Rashid last led Afghanistan in the three-match series against world champions West Indies in 2019, which his side won 2-1. The T20I captaincy was previously held by Asghar Afghan, who was sacked from all three formats, by the board, last month.