Mohammad Nabi announced his decision to step down as Afghanistan's skipper just hours after the team narrowly lost to Australia in their last group encounter of the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder announced his decision on his official Twitter account.
"Our T20 World Cup journey came to an end, with a result that not we nor our supporters were expecting. We are as frustrated as you are with the outcome of matches," he said.
In the message, Nabi also mentioned the difference in his views and the selection committee led to an imbalance in the team.
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"From the last year, our team preparation was not to a level that a captain would want or need for a big tournament. Moreover, in some of the last tours the team management, selection committee and I were not on the same page which had implications on the team balance" he added.
"Therefore, with due respect, effective immediately I announce to STEP DOWN as a CAPTAIN & will continue to play for my country when the management & team need me.
“I thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart who came to the grounds despite matches being affected by the rain and those who supported us worldwide, your love truly means a lot to us. Long live Afghanistan,” Nabi wrote.
Nabi led Afghanistan for the first time as captain from 2013 to 2015. The Afghans won 13 ODIs and 16 T20Is under his leadership. The veteran scored 601 runs in 28 ODIs and 422 runs in 35 T20Is as captain. Nabi also took 47 wickets as the Afghan national team's captain.
Afghanistan had a disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup, losing three of their five matches and having two of them wiped out (against New Zealand and Ireland).
Afghanistan came close to pulling off a shock in their last group game against Australia, but a batting-order collapse in the final overs of the match left them four runs short in Adelaide.
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