Afghanistan appoint Avishka Gunawardene as batting coach for Pakistan series

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has appointed former Sri Lankan batsman Avishka Gunawardene as their team’s batting coach for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan, scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka from September 1 to 5.

“Former @OfficialSLC batsman and coach, Avishka Gunawardene has been appointed as Afghanistan National Team’s batting coach,” wrote ACB while confirming the development on its official Twitter handle.

Gunawardene will replace former South African batsman Hylton Deon Ackerman in the role. Earlier, the Afghanistan board had named ex-Australian speedster Shaun Tait as their team’s new bowling coach.

Gunawardene represented Sri Lanka in 6 Tests and 61 ODIs where he scored 181 and 1708 runs respectively.

Gunawardene even served as Sri Lanka national team’s batting coach and has also coached the Sri Lanka A and Emerging teams in the recent past.

Pakistan series will be his first major assignment since being cleared of the corruption charges related to alleged breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board’s anti-corruption code during the 2017 T10 tournament in the UAE.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters who took over Afghanistan on Monday had revealed that cricket can continue as it was before.

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