Rahmat, Naib, Rashid given leadership roles for Afghanistan

Kabul, April 5 (IANS) Ahead of the World Cup, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has handed leadership roles to Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan taking charge of the Test, ODI and T20I teams respectively on Friday.

It marked the end of Asghar Afghan's four-year stint as captain of the Afghanistan team across the three formats, according to a ESPNCricinfo report.

Rashid, currently playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, will also be the vice-captain of the ODI side, while Hashmatullah Shahidi will be the deputy of the Test team, with Shafiqullah performing the role for the T20I side.

According to Azizullah Fazli, the ACB chairman, the changes will provide opportunities to young captains, who are the future of the game in the country. He told ESPNcricinfo, "The World Cup provides us with the opportunity to play against nine Full Members. So we thought it is a good time to introduce change in leadership."

Afghan, meanwhile, would continue to be a part of the national squad as a senior player, Fazli said.

Afghan replaced Mohammad Nabi as the captain after the 2015 World Cup.