Asghar Afghan to retire after game against Namibia

The Afghanistan Cricket Board said it accepted the 33-year-old Asghar’s decision, saying it “expresses gratitudes for his services to the country.”

Asghar Afghan will retire from all formats of the game after Afghanistan’s Super 12 match in the T20 World Cup against Namibia on Sunday.

FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup - Bangladesh v Afghanistan - The Ageas Bowl, Southampton, Britain - June 24, 2019 Afghanistan's Asghar Afghan during the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley (Action Images via Reuters)

The Afghanistan Cricket Board said it accepted the 33-year-old Asghar’s decision, saying it “expresses gratitudes for his services to the country.”

Afghanistan skipper at the T20 World Cup Mohammad Nabi said he was sad to learn about his “good friend” and brother Asghar’s retirement and described him as one of the shining stars of Afghan cricket.

Asghar, who scored 440 runs in six test matches at an average of 44.00, was the captain in Afghanistan’s inaugural test match against India in 2018. He has also played 114 one-day internationals, scoring 2424 runs at an average of 24.73. In 74 T20s, Asghar made 1351 runs at a strike rate of 110.37 with an average of 21.79.

Asghar with 42 wins as captain holds the unique record of most wins as captain in international T20s with nine losses and one tied game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is now the mentor of Indian team at the T20 World Cup, won 41 T20s as captain of the national team.

Afghanistan romped to 130-run win in its first Group 2 game against Scotland before losing by five wickets against Pakistan when Asif Ali smashed four sixes against fast bowler Karim Janat in the penultimate over in a superb display of power hitting.

New Zealand and India are the other teams in the group.