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Afghanistan's former captain and middle-order batter Asghar Afghan has announced his retirement from cricket. The upcoming game of the nation against Namibia would be his last game in the national jersey. The news was shared on social media by the Afghanistan Cricket Board who put out a series of tweets to share the piece of information.
Afghan has played 114 ODIs, 74 T20Is and 6 Tests for his nation so far, amassing 2424, 1351 and 440 runs, respectively. He has captained the national side in 115 matches. It is worth noting that Asghar Afghan is the captain with most number of T20I wins. He inches legendary India skipper MS Dhoni with one win in the shortest format.
ACB "welcomes and respects" Asghar Afghan's decision to retire
"Afghanistan’s ex captain Asghar Afghan who holds the highest winning streak as a captain in T20 internationals surpassing Indian legend MS Dhoni by one extra win, decides to bid farewell with all formats of cricket in Afghanistan’s third match against Namibia at T20 World Cup," the Afghanistan Cricket Board said.
"Afghanistan Cricket Board welcomes and respects his decision, expresses gratitudes for his services to the country. It will take a lot of hard work for young Afghan cricketers to fill his shoes," it added.
Afghanistan face Namibia in Abu Dhabi
Afghanistan's third match of the 2021 T20 World Cup proper would be against Namibia. Notably, it also happens to be the last game of Asghar. He must look to end his journey in international cricket with a win.
Talking about team Afghanistan in particular, they broke into the Super 12 on the basis of their T20I ranking. The side registered a comprehensive win over Scotland in their tournament. Motivated by the 130-run win over the Scottish Saltires, the Afghans fought neck-and-neck with Pakistan in their second game where the Men in Green inched them in the final moments of the game. After the game against Namibia, Afghanistan will face India on November 3, while their final game in Group 2 will be against New Zealand. As per the points table on Saturday, they occupy the second spot with two points and a net run rate of +3.092.