Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has been once again named Afghanistan captain for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 after star spinner Rashid Khan stepped down on Thursday (September 9).
Nabi confirmed his appointment as Afghanistan captain on Friday (September 10).
However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is yet to officially announce Nabi's appointment as captain. The 36-year-old all-rounder on Friday took to Twitter to reveal that he has been selected as Afghanistan captain for the T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in the UAE and Oman.
Nabi wrote on Twitter on Friday, “At this critical stage, I admire the decision of ACB for the announcement of leading the National Cricket Team in T20 Format. We will present a great picture of the Nation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.”
Meanwhile, in a shocking decision, Rashid decided to step down as Afghanistan captain after he said that his inputs were not asked before the Afghanistan board finalized the squad for the T20 World Cup 2021.
He announced his decision to leave the captaincy minutes after the ACB announced the squad. The board had earlier named him the captain of the 15-member squad for the global T20 event later this year.
Rashid said in a statement on Twitter: “As the captain and responsible person for the nation, I reserve the right to be part of the selection of the team. The selection committee and ACB have not obtained my consent for the team which has been announced by ACB media.”
He added, “I am taking the decision of stepping down from the role as the captain of Afghanistan T20 side effective immediately. It’s Always my proud playing for Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2021 Squad:
Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen ul Haq, Hamid Hassan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmed
