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AFGHANISTAN: The former India all-rounder cricket Manoj Prabhakar has been appointed as the bowling coach for the Afghanistan national cricket team, it has been reported.
Prabhakar will assist the Afghanistan team as a bowling coach until ICC World Cup Twenty20 2016 to be held in India.
“I am glad I can guide the Afghan team. They have immense talent and I am sure, in the years to come, the Afghanistan team would emerge as a force to reckon with in all forms of the game. They have shown a healthy keenness to learn the finer points of the game,” Prabhakar quoted in a report by local newspaper, The Hindu said.
The appointment of Prabhakar as the Afghan bowling coach comes as Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority on Thursday to help Afghanistan cricket with a home ground in India.
It is believed that the Afghan bolwing will gain more leverage with the appointment of Prabhakar as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has added the Afghan match among 6 games to look forward to at the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.
According to ICC the game has been added among the 6 games to look forward to at T20 World Cup following Zimbabwe’s back to back series loss to Afghanistan.
“Zimbabwe will look to avenge its recent series loss to Afghanistan when the sides meet in Nagpur on March 12. The two sides have turned keen rivals of late, with Afghanistan defeating Zimbabwe in the limited-overs series in October 2015. They have never met in a World T20, but Afghanistan hold the advantage in the head-to-head record with two victories in as many matches. The game could also be crucial in terms of qualification to the Super 10 stage as it’s the final match of the first round for both sides,” ICC said.
The Afghan team is expected to appear in a One Day International (ODI) match against Zimbabwe ahead of their appearance in ICC World T20.
The game was expected to be played in Great Noida, however the stadium didn’t receive the requisite approval from the ICC. -KP
THE PASHTUN TIMES
