Picture Credit: Twitter
Afghanistan batter, Usman Ghani has voiced his displeasure with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and opted to stand down from playing for the national side ahead of the next Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup 2023.
It is noteworthy that the opener was left out of the Afghanistan team for the upcoming away series against Bangladesh. He confronted the officials shortly after, bringing up the chaotic status of the ruling body. Ghani claimed that he made an effort to speak with the officials in order to find out why he was disqualified from all three formats, but that effort was unsuccessful.
The 26-year-old took to Twitter to express his thoughts about the Afghanistan board. He wrote, “After careful consideration, I have decided to take a break from Afghanistan Cricket. The corrupt leadership in the cricket board has compelled me to step back. I will continue my hard work and eagerly await the right management and selection committee to be put in place.”
“Once that happens, I will proudly return to play for Afghanistan. Until then, I am backing myself from representing my beloved nation” Ghani added further.
Ghani also claimed that he tried to visit the chairman multiple times, but he was unsuccessful as the chairman was always unavailable. “Moreover, the chief selector had no satisfactory response for my exclusion from all formats” Ghani further informed.
Ghani has been replaced in the Afghanistan lineup by experienced wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Shahzad, who made a comeback after a 19-month absence after gaining fitness and regularly registering runs in the domestic circuit. Sediqullah Atal, aged 21, was kept in for the opener's position by the selectors. In four games, he scored three half-centuries, averaging 49.75, including a 94 for Defenders in the Green One-Day Cup.
The board has not officially responded to Usman Ghani’s tweet or his break from cricket. Afghanistan are slated to play three ODIs and two T20Is in Chattogram and Sylhet respectively. The ODI series will kick off from Wednesday, July 5 and the final T20I will be played on July 16.
