Former Afghanistan Captain Asghar Afghan Announces International Retirement, Will Play His Last Match vs Namibia In T20 World Cup 2021

Asghar Afghan, former Afghanistan captain and current middle-order batsman, has decided to retire from international cricket during the ongoing T20 World Cup in the UAE.

Asghar Afghan has announced that Sunday’s encounter with Namibia in Abu Dhabi will be his last international match for Afghanistan. This is surprising news as he has decided, or announced, it mid-tournament.

“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,” the Afghanistan Cricket Board tweeted on Saturday.

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Asghar Afghan retires as an Afghanistan legend

Asghar Afghan has been amongst the premier players in the rise of Afghanistan as a cricket team over the last decade. He holds the record for most consecutive matches as captain in T20Is, with 46 games between July 2015 and February 2019.

The 33-year-old played 6 Tests, 114 ODIs and 74 T20Is, which will be 75 on Sunday, his last game. He has scored 4215 runs across formats and led Afghanistan in 115 matches.

He made his ODI debut against Scotland in 2009 and his T20I debut against Ireland in 2010.

Asghar Afghan was Afghanistan’s first Test captain when they made their debut against India in 2018; he captained the side to two wins and two losses in red-ball cricket. In 59 ODIs as captain, the right-hander accounted for 34 wins and 21 losses while he won 42 out of the 52 matches as T20I captain.

Asghar Afghan proudly holds the record of most T20I wins as captain; he went past MS Dhoni’s record of 41 wins when his side defeated Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi in March earlier this year.

Afghanistan won their T20 World Cup opening fixture against Scotland by a heavy margin of 130 runs, but lost an exciting game to Pakistan. They will take on Namibia on Sunday. Mohammad Nabi’s side will then meet India and New Zealand later in the group stage of the tournament.

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