Former Pakistan coach joins Afghanistan team after poor performance in T20 World Cup 2026

While the former English cricketer Jonathan Trott left the head coach role of the Afghanistan national cricket team after making a strong impact on the squad, the team has got a new head coach, who previously coached Pakistan and Bangladesh national cricket teams. 

Before the beginning of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, it was clearly known that Jonathan Trott would leave the head coach role with Afghanistan at the end of the tournament. The 2024 T20 World Cup semi-finalists underperformed in the ongoing 2026 edition, as they failed to qualify for the Super Eights. Apart from two wins in Group D against Canada and the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan suffered a comfortable defeat against New Zealand and also experienced a Super Over defeat against South Africa. 

Richard Pybus joined Afghanistan national cricket team as head coach

Jonathan Trott's contract ending leaves a big hole in the Afghanistan team. Before the white-ball series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates, which will begin on March 13, Afghanistan have got a new head coach, as Richard Pybus has joined this role. 

See Also: Qualification Scenario for Pakistan explained: How can Pakistan qualify for Semi Finals of T20 World Cup 2026

Who is Richard Pybus?

From 1999 to 2003, Richard Pybus coached the Pakistan national cricket team multiple times. In 2012, he was also the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team, where Bangladesh experienced strong performances, but it didn't work out longer due to a contract dispute. He also worked for the West Indies cricket team as Director of Cricket from 2013 to 2016, and later, he became the High Performance Director of the team from 2018 to 2019. 

In 2017, Pybus applied for the head coach role of the India men's national cricket team. Moreover, Pybus has huge coaching experience in South African domestic cricket. 

In the upcoming white-ball cricket assignment, Afghanistan will play a three-match T20I and three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.