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Asghar Stanikzai walk-out infuriates Afghanistan coach Inzamam-ul-Haq

Afghanistan coach Inzamam-ul-Haq and captain Asghar Stanikzai

On eve of Afghanistan’s World T20 clash against South Africa, there have been some unsightly scenes in their training camp in Mumbai. On Saturday, there was a confrontation between coach Inzamam-ul-Haq and captain Asghar Stanikzai on the sidelines of the practice session, something that is bound to dip morale in the Afghan camp.

As Inzamam was giving catching practice to his team, Stanikzai reacted a bit late to one of the catches and hurt his finger. He decided to rest his finger a bit and take a rest from the rest of the session. Inzamam had gone up to his captain to enquire about the seriousness of the injury, but what followed left him in a fit.

Stanikzai, without talking to either of the two coaches Inzamam and Manoj Prabhakar, headed to a chair behind the nets. The catching session was brought to a close by the angry Inzamam, and the team headed to the nets for batting practice.

Later, as Stanikzai watched on from his chair, Inzamam went up to him and gave him a long lecture, presumably on the need to not walk out of practice sessions. How the incident affects Afghanistan or Stanikzai’s performance will be evident on Sunday.

Inzamam, Prabhakar’s experience of playing at highest level helping Afghanistan: Stanikzai

Immediately before the practice session, however, Stanikzai had praised the influence of Inzamam and Manoj Prabhakar on the Afghan team.

He said, "After Inzamam and Prabhakar joined us, we have improved. They have international experience as they have played at the highest level. So they are sharing their experience with us and the boys are improving day by day," he said adding, "As long as we play with full members, we are getting experience. We can identify all those weak areas where we need to improve." 

He further said, "We have qualified from the first round beating Zimbabwe, Hong Kong and Scotland. Currently our team is doing very good and we have constantly improved." 

Afghanistan, who lost to Sri Lanka in their first match by six wickets, face a must-win game against South Africa in Group 1 of the World Twenty20 cricket tournament on Sunday. Their strength with which they can attack the Proteas is spin – Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Hamza Hotak.

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