Afghanistan appoints Shaun Tait as its bowling coach ahead of T20 World Cup

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has appointed former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait as the bowling coach for a period of five months starting right away. This will be his first-ever international assignment with the player having coached the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League and Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 league previously. 

The former Australian fast bowler is a level-two certified coach from Cricket Australia and brings in experience of having played at the highest level. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on his appointment, the former speedster said that his main task was to get the fast bowlers their recognition. "Everyone talks about Afghanistan's spinners, so one of the specifics of my role is to get people talking more about their fast bowlers. There is some improvement to be done and hopefully, I can add that side of things. With all the concentration on the spin, a couple of guys get picked to do the role at the death and they're gonna need some guidance. That's where I come in" he said. 

Shaun Tait's career

Shaun Tait is known for having bowled in the second-fastest delivery (161.1kph) of all time and also for having played an important part during Australia winning the 2007 Cricket World Cup, taking 23 wickets in 11 games. The player represented Australia in three Tests, 35 ODIs, and 21 T20Is picking five, 62, and 28 wickets respectively. 

Afghanistan to play against Pakistan ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021

Afghanistan will play a three-match ODI series against Pakistan ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 starting September 1 in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The Afghanistan Cricket Board had initially approached the UAE but UAE could not accommodate owing to the 2nd half of IPL being played there followed by the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The board then look at hosting in Zimbabwe but had to drop the plans owing to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country. The three-match series between the two sides will be part of the ICC Super League. 

Image: @ICC/Twitter