Former West Indies cricket coach Phil Simmons has been appointed head coach of Afghanistan. He took over the job from which was left vacant when the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) terminated the contract of Lalchand Rajput, just three months after the former Indian batsman was appointed.
Simmons, a Trinidadian, will join the Afghanistan squad in Dubai as it prepares for the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in February.
His contract runs until the 2019 World Cup.
Simmons was one of the three candidates shortlisted by the ACB, which conducted interviews over the past few months.
In addition to coaching West Indies, he has coached Ireland and Zimbabwe. All these are teams Afghanistan will play in the World Cup qualifiers.
Simmons was also interviewed for the Bangladesh coach job last month.
