Former England cricketer Jonathan Trott will continue to be with the men's Afghanistan cricket team as head coach for the year 2025 after earning a contract extension. Trott, who has been with Afghanistan for 2.5 years, has had a successful stint with the side which saw the Asian team qualify for the Champions Trophy for the first time after finishing in the top eight on the points table at the ODI World Cup 2023 beating the likes of England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and make it to their maiden T20 World Cup semi-final.
Trott has revitalised Afghanistan cricket in a sense during the most tumultuous time for the country in general and the sport in the country, as far as the political landscape is concerned. Trott's next assignment with Afghanistan will be the ODI tour of Zimbabwe. Due to personal reasons, Trott will be unavailable for the T20Is and Test segments of the multi-format tour.
"Hamid Hassan will step up and take on the role of Head Coach in Trott’s absence, and Nawroz Mangal, who recently helped the AfghanAbdalyan lineup to the Emerging Asia Cup glory, will serve as Assistant Head Coach during the series," Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement.
The Zimbabwe tour also spills into Trott's maiden head coach job in franchise cricket, SA20 with the Pretoria Capitals. Trott has been in demand since his exploits with Afghanistan and hence, will be keen to do well with the Capitals in SA20 2025.
Afghanistan had beaten the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh before losing to South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 semis and now will be keen to continue against Zimbabwe from where they left in the ICC event. The tour begins with three T20Is and as many ODIs on Wednesday, December 11 before the Boxing Day and New Year's Tests in Bulawayo.
