Sport
Cricket: Hamid Hassan appointed as national team’s bowling coach
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said Wednesday that Hamid Hassan will take over as the national team’s bowling coach.
Hassan has a long history as a national cricketer and will take up his new role during Afghanistan’s upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan in the UAE later this month.
Following the announcement of his appointment, Hassan said: “Cricket has been my life over the past two-three decades and is in fact something that has been my passion for my whole life. It’s a difficult decision for me to retire from the game I love the most, but I’m doing this for the sake of my country and my team.”
He went on to say that “at the same time, I’m honored and pleased to have the opportunity to take the role of the bowling coach of our National Team. I have enjoyed every bit of my playing career with this team, and the opportunity to work with our young bowling group is something I am looking forward to. I’ve been watching our fast bowling group closely and am excited to work with them to make this group as strong as or even stronger than our spinning department.”
Hamid Hassan has played 38 ODIs for Afghanistan from 2009-2019, picking up 59 wickets at 22.54 with the best per-inning figures of 5/45 to his name. He has also represented Afghanistan in 25 T20 Internationals (T20Is) during the period, having picked 35 wickets at 16.57 having the best figures of 4/22 to his name in the format.
The announcement comes just two weeks away from Afghanistan’s series against Pakistan which starts on March 25.
Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets in the first match of Under-19 Tri-Series in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh made 75 runs before they were bowled out in the 22.5 overs.
Bashir Ahmad picked up four wickets while Kamran Hotak took three. Khalil Ahmad followed with two wickets.
Afghanistan chased down the target in the 9.5 overs, as Suhail Khan made 33 and Mohammad Haroon added 21.
Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka in their next match of the series on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Under-19s defeated Afghanistan Under-19s by 63 runs in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to end the two-match series 1-1.
Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh posted 231 runs before they were all out after 49.3 overs in Abu Dhabi.
Mohammad Shihab James was their top-scorer with 98. He was followed by Paevez Rahman Jibon who made 48.
Yama Arab picked up four wickets for Afghanistan, while Faraidoon Dawoodzai took two.
In reply, Afghanistan made 168 before they were all out in the 45.4 overs. 88 of their total was scored by Sohail Khan.
Both teams along with the Sri Lanka U19s will now feature in a Tri-Series starting this Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Shadab Khan will captain Pakistan’s T20I side against Afghanistan in the absence of regular captain Babar Azam, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials announced late Monday.
Pakistan also decided to rest several key regulars for the series, including Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.
Shadab has been the vice-captain of the limited-overs side in the last two years and even stood in for Babar during the T20I series in the tour of New Zealand in 2020.
Speaking after the announcement, Shadab said: “I am grateful to the Almighty for this opportunity. Representing your country is an honor for any cricketer and to lead it is even a bigger honor so I am very excited and eager to take this role.
“This is a big responsibility as I will be leading a nation of 220 million people and I will try my best to do justice with it with all the ability that I have.”
Several new talents such as Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan are in line for their T20I debuts after impressing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) while the likes of Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim have earned a recall.
Pakistan will depart for the UAE on 22 March for the series which starts on 24 March in what will be the first multi-game bilateral assignment between the two sides.
All three games will be played in Sharjah where Afghanistan will be on the hunt for their first limited-overs victory over Pakistan.
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