Afghanistan chief selector Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai has justified the decision to axe Asghar Afghan as captain across formats less than two months before the World Cup by arguing that whoever their skipper was, they wouldn’t have a shot at the trophy.
“We realised that we can’t win the World Cup at this moment under Asghar’s captaincy, or anyone else who would have been in charge,” he told PTI. “We made the decision not just thinking about this World Cup, we are thinking about the 2023 edition. We will be getting 10 matches with full members, and we feel it will provide perfect training for the new captain.”
“Asghar himself has said that Gulbadin [Naib, the new ODI captain] is like his younger brother,” he said. “He believes that Asghar’s experience will come in handy in the World Cup. They are a united front now. Changes happen. Sri Lanka also changed their captain.”
Despite being unable, in his view, to challenge for the title, Ahmadzai hopes Afghanistan can reach the last four. “There was no Rashid or Mujeeb in 2015 so this time we are aiming for a semi-final berth. With the team composition we have, we can definitely surprise a few teams.”
Afghanistan begin their World Cup campaign against Australia on June 1.
