Phil Simmons Named as the Afghanistan Coach

Former West Indies coach Phil Simmons has been named as the new coach of Afghanistan. The role was vacant after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) decided to terminate former coach Lalchand Rajput three months from his appointment.

Simmons will join the Afghanistan squad in Dubai on January 8 as it prepares for the limited over series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in February. His contract runs until the 2019 World Cup.

Simmons was interviewed for the past few months after ACB shortlisted three candidates. However, he was handed over the job because of his experience in this role with Ireland and West Indies. Simmons also served as a coaching consultant with Afghanistan last year.

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“We went with Phil because he understands our team. He has coached West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland – all these are teams Afghanistan will play in the World Cup Qualifiers. He is a good prospect,” Shafiq Stanikzai, the ACB chief executive officer was heard saying.

Simmons’ immediate challenge will be the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe comprising two T20Is and five ODIs between February 5 and 19. Afghanistan will then move on to the World Cup Qualifiers. Afghanistan is also slated to play their inaugural Test match against India in 2018.

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The 54-year-old Simmons was also interviewed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board after Chandika Hathurasinghe left the job to join his native country Sri Lanka.

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