Staying in Kabul was out of the question, says outgoing Afghanistan coach Lalcha

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Lalchand Rajput

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) decided not to extend coach Lalchand Rajput's contract yesterday. The former India opener was appointed for the post in June last year and his contract was due to expire this month. "ACB would like to thank Mr Rajput for his satisfactory performance during his time as Afghanistan's Head Coach," a press release on ACB's official Twitter account read yesterday.

Under his tenure, Afghanistan attained full membership at the ICC and won six out of 10 series across all formats. The Afghans also made their debut at Lord's against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in July this year. "Since Afghanistan were doing so well, the board officials wanted me to come and live in Kabul to coach not only their team, but also to have a look at domestic players as well. I told them that staying in Kabul is out of the question, so that was the main reason why they didn't extend my contract," Rajput told mid-day yesterday. The former Mumbai coach, who took over from ex-Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq last year, said he enjoyed his spell with the Afghans.

"It's been a fantastic one year. They have a good bunch of players like Rashid Khan, who played in the IPL this year, Mohammad Nabi and the skipper Asghar Stanikzai.

All these guys will shine in future," he said.

Asked about his coaching future plans, Rajput added: "I have not thought about my future now, but definitely, if an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise comes with an offer to coach their team, I will take it up."

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