In his last international appearance, former Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan received guard of honour from Namibia team as he walked out to bat at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. After a crucial cameo of 31 runs from 23 balls, Nabi walked back to the dressing room to another guard of honour from his teammates. There were few Afghan fans in the crowd saluting the legendary limited-overs captain as he walked back to the dressing room after his final international innings.
An emotional Asghar in the mid-innings break revealed the reason of his retirement to the broadcaster. The 33-year-old thanked his fans for their support and said that he retired midway because he wanted to give a young player the experience of playing in the World Cup.
Asghar got emotional during the mid-innings break. "In the last match, we were hurt too much, and that's why I decided to retire," Afghan said referring to the narrow loss to Pakistan in the previous match.
In the second innings, he did not take the field initially and was seen in the dugout struggling to hold back his emotions.
Exceptional T20I captaincy record
Asghar took over the captaincy reigns in 2015 and finished as the most successful captain in T20I cricket (in terms of winning percentage). He has led Afghanistan in 52 matches and won 42. His winning percentage of 81.73 is the highest among all T20I captains over the years. Only Eoin Morgan has as many wins in the format but a lower wining percentage.
Asghar retired as Afghanistan’s third-highest run-scorer in T20I cricket with 1,351 runs from 74 T20Is at an average of 21.79 including four half-centuries. He is also the fourth-highest run-scorer for his country in the ODI format with 2,424 runs from 114 games at an average of 24.73 including one century and 12 half-centuries.
In his last innings, Asghar helped his side finish well with a 35-run partnership with skipper Mohammad Nabi. His cameo included three fours and one six.
Earlier, Asghar announced his shock retirement on October 30 midway through the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 after scoring just 10 runs against Pakistan in Afghanistan’s second match of Super 12.
