Asghar Afghan to retire from international cricket after Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup encounter against Namibia

Asghar Afghan has announced that on October 31, 2021, he will play his final international match for Afghanistan. At the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan will face Namibia in their next group stage match of the T20 World Cup 2021. Afghan’s retirement from cricket was announced on ESPN Cricinfo’s official Twitter account. “JUST IN: Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan will play his final match for the country tomorrow. He has announced his retirement from international cricket,” said ESPN Cricinfo’s official Twitter account.

With the willow in hand, Asghar Afghan has been the basis of the Afghanistan side for more than a decade. For his country, the right-hander has appeared in 6 Tests, 115 One-Day Internationals, and 74 Twenty-20 Internationals. Afghan has amassed 2467 runs in the ODI version of the game, in addition to 440 runs in the whites. The 33-year-old has also accumulated 1327 runs in T20I cricket. Afghan has two centuries to his name in his international career. Afghan is the third-highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in T20Is, while he is the fourth-highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in ODI cricket.

In Test cricket, the right-handed batting veteran has three half-centuries to his name, while in ODI cricket, he has 12 half-centuries. Afghan has scored four fifty in T20I matches. Afghan made his international debut in 2009 for the Afghanistan national team. He has been a long-serving member of Afghanistan’s cricket team. Afghan has also become the face of Afghanistan in foreign forums. Afghan’s 12-year career will come to an end on October 31st, 2021.

The 33-year-old was controversially removed as ODI captain before the 2019 World Cup, sparking outrage, but was reinstated in early 2020 before being fired as the country’s all-format captain in June this year. Afghan struck a match-winning 164 against Zimbabwe in his final Test as captain, a knock that helped Afghanistan win by six wickets.