Former Afghanistan fast-bowler Hamid Hassan has been named as the new bowling coach of the men's team, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said on Wednesday.
Hassan will retire from the game as a player to step into the bowling coach role from Afghanistan's upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan. "Cricket has been my life over the past two-three decades and is in fact something that has been my passion for my whole life.
It's a difficult decision for me to retire from the game I love the most, but I'm doing this for the sake of my country and my team," said Hassan in a statement by the ACB.
"At the same time, I'm honored and pleased to have the opportunity to take the role of the bowling coach of our national team. I have enjoyed every bit of my playing career with this team, and the opportunity to work with our young bowling group is something I am looking forward to.
I've been watching our fast bowling group closely and am excited to work with them to make this group as strong as or even stronger than our spinning department," he added.
In a career where he had to face a lot of injuries, Hassan played 38 ODIs for Afghanistan from 2009-2019, picking up 59 wickets at an average of 22.54 with his best figures being 5/45.
He also played 25 T20Is for Afghanistan, picking 35 wickets while averaging 16.57 and best figures of 4/22. Hassan was Afghanistan's fast-bowling spearhead in first class cricket during the Intercontinental Cup 2010, picking up 45 wickets in just 6 matches in his side's title win.
Overall, he had 69 scalps in 28 first-class innings at an average of 22.88 with six fifers and three ten-fers in the format. Afghanistan is all set to host Pakistan for a series of three T20I matches from March 25-29 in Sharjah, UAE.
It will be the first time these two teams will play against each other in a bilateral series of multiple matches.