The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said Wednesday that Hamid Hassan will take over as the national team’s bowling coach.

Hassan has a long history as a national cricketer and will take up his new role during Afghanistan’s upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan in the UAE later this month.

Following the announcement of his appointment, Hassan said: “Cricket has been my life over the past two-three decades and is in fact something that has been my passion for my whole life. It’s a difficult decision for me to retire from the game I love the most, but I’m doing this for the sake of my country and my team.”

He went on to say that “at the same time, I’m honored and pleased to have the opportunity to take the role of the bowling coach of our National Team. I have enjoyed every bit of my playing career with this team, and the opportunity to work with our young bowling group is something I am looking forward to. I’ve been watching our fast bowling group closely and am excited to work with them to make this group as strong as or even stronger than our spinning department.”

Hamid Hassan has played 38 ODIs for Afghanistan from 2009-2019, picking up 59 wickets at 22.54 with the best per-inning figures of 5/45 to his name. He has also represented Afghanistan in 25 T20 Internationals (T20Is) during the period, having picked 35 wickets at 16.57 having the best figures of 4/22 to his name in the format.

The announcement comes just two weeks away from Afghanistan’s series against Pakistan which starts on March 25.