Kabir Khan has left his role as coach after a dispute with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).
Kabir said he texted the board his displeasure about what he saw as interferences in team decisions. While this message was only to express his grievances, the Board sent him a letter two days later saying they accepted his resignation.
“I texted our chairman of ACB regarding some issues which I was not very happy with, and stated that if they don’t let me work freely without interfering I will rather leave the job with honour and dignity,” Kabir told Cricinfo. “It was not an official resignation but two days later I got a letter from our CEO Aimal Shenwari saying that my resignation has been accepted and I replied ‘Ok’ – nothing else I could say.”
Kabir Khan says the interferences from the board occurred during the recently completed tour of Scotland.
“During the Intercontinental Cup they at the office were not happy that we did not enforce the follow-on against the Scottish team when Rashid Latif [the batting coach], the captain and I decided to bat for a bit of time and we won the game.”
The ACB felt the need to interfere again, this time about a toss decision. “In the last ODI the issue of why we batted first [was challenged]. If they in the office know so much about cricket then there is no point in us doing a job and getting paid. I cannot call Kabul after every toss and ask my CEO what to do,” Kabir said.
These incidents are not the first time Kabir believed the board was getting in the way of his job. “When I wanted to add young boys and make a future team, the selection committee was giving me boys in their thirties. I was not involved in the selection meetings which I should [and] boys were dropped for no reasons.”
Kabir put the blame on the ACB chairman, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, for not giving a proper explanation as to what has happened. “The chairman should have at least asked me why I wrote the text, before discussing and deciding with the person who I was not feeling comfortable with. He just had a meeting with CEO and listened to his side of story.”
Unfortunately, Kabir doesn’t see himself returning to coach Afghanistan. “First of all I will rather find another job as things will not be the same, but if I do then it will totally on my terms and simple ones – I will need full authority of decisions and say in selections. The board can ask me questions or sack me after the tournament but during the tour no interference in cricket matters.”
Afghanistan fans shouldn’t forget the hard-work Kabir Khan has done as coach. During his time as coach Afghanistan have gained ODI status, played in the World T20 and massively improved their all-round game. His departure now raises questions about whether batting coach Rashid Latif, who is very close Kabir, will stay on in his job.
The whole incident, though, is a shame as Kabir could have taken Afghanistan even further. But you have to understand the frustrations Kabir must have about the board wanting to have a say in every choice he makes. It appears that people in the ACB who don’t know much about cricket want to control all the cricketing decisions.
First of all we say thanks to Kabir khan for his Hard work that he did for afghan team.we are grateful and will always remember you as Hero we will miss you..Its so sad that we see people like Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal that dont know shitt about cricket is chairman of ACB the government should kick this guy out of the office and bring some wise people that has knowledge about cricket.they need to improve our team .our team will be like pakistan team one day if they focus and bring some good coaches and new players..
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