ADELAIDE: All-rounder Mohammad Nabi quit as captain of Afghanistan’s Twenty20 team on Friday, barely an hour after their winless World Cup campaign ended with a loss to Australia in Adelaide.

Nabi, 37, will continue as a player but said he and the selectors were not “on the same page”.

“From the last one year, our team preparation was not to a level that a captain would want it or needed for a big tournament,” he said in a statement on Twitter.

“Moreover, in some of the last tours, the team manager, selection committee and I were not on the same page which had implications on the team balance.

“Therefore, with due respect, effective immediately, I announce to step down as a captain and will continue to play for my country when the management and team need me.”

Afghanistan, coached by former England batsman Jonathan Trott, finished the Super 12 stage in Australia without a win.

They had two washouts and two losses to sit bottom of the six-team table in Group 1.

Nabi, a middle-order batsman and off-spinner, has played 104 T20 matches for Afghanistan since his debut in 2010.

Afghanistan’s latest defeat came after they fell four runs short in their chase of 168 despite an unbeaten 48 by Rashid Khan, who came to bat at number eight.

“It showed the skill and talent of the players that we have got, but also the situation awareness that we lack in parts and we saw that against Sri Lanka, we have seen it again tonight,” Trott told reporters before Nabi’s announcement.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2022