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Written by Vishal Menon | Greater Noida | Updated: March 5, 2017 10:13 am Simmons has been hired for three series by Afghanistans cricket board.

Proud to be an Afghan. These were the words etched behind Phil Simmons flashy jersey when he arrived with the Afghanistan team for practice at the Greater Noida Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Simmons stint as Afghanistans coach began, almost inadvertently, in Dubai on the sidelines of the Desert T20 challenge.

I was in Dubai to watch the Desert T20 challenge when I was approached by their CEO (Shafiqullah Stanikzai) and their manager, who asked me if I would be interested in accepting the role of the Afghanistan coach. I was pleasantly surprised at first. But, it was an extremely exciting offersomething I could not have possibly ignored, he said. The 53-year-old, sacked by the West Indies Cricket Board last year following a series of acrimonious public squabbles, jumped aboard instantly.

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On the face of it, choosing Simmons was pragmatic. After all, he has had considerable success Irelands coach for a decade, where they were the winners among Associate nations in 50-over as well as the T20 format. Going forward, he can use his experience when Afghanistan squares up against Ireland in their upcoming ODI series. I suppose so. I was the Ireland coach for a considerable amount of time, and since Afghanistan is scheduled to play two series against them, they have sought my experience, which is fair, I think, he noted.

Both Simmons and Ireland go a long way. In fact, just two days ago, Simmons had posted on his Twitter handle a link celebrating six years of Irelands historic triumph over England at the 2011 World Cup. With it was a powerful image of KevinO Briens jaw-dropping 113. Below it was the caption that read, Never to be forgotten #100 worth watching again.

After signing the dotted line in Dubai, Simmons landed in Harare early last month for his first assignment a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe which the Afghans won 3-2.We should have won that series 4-1, he sighed. Simmons takes over from Inzaman-ul-Haq, who had resigned from the post of head coach last year, to be the selector in Pakistan Cricket Board. Inzamams six-month reign was one of the most prolific periods for Afghanistan cricket, having won 12 out of the 17 T20s, and pulling off an incredible heist on West Indies at the World T20 campaign in India early last year. In this period, they continued to exert their dominance against the Zimbabweans. During his tenure, Inzaman had said that he had travelled to Kabul only once, to sign the contract. Simmons conceded he has not been to Afghanistans political capital yet.

Simmons, however, is not looking too far ahead in his new role. They have hired me for just three series. This series against Ireland, followed by another 5-match ODI series against West Indies in the Carribean in May, followed by a return series in Ireland in July. Thats what I am looking at currently. he explained.

Barely four weeks into his new assignment, he admitted he was still getting into the scheme of things, and added that coaching this motley bunch presented their own set of challenges. You have players with diverse personality traits and temperaments. For instance, you have a guy like Ahmed Shehzad who is very jovial and fun-loving, while on the other hand you have Zadran, who is a bit shy and religious. Apart from that, the language is also an issue. Thankfully, I have someone like Lalchand Rajput as the manager, who converses with them in Hindi. He is my mediator, he added with a smile.

The immediate challenge for Simmons and his support staff would be to infuse a winning habit into this team. The former West Indies coach had cited their performances during last years World T20 to illustrate their glaring inconsitencies. These guys were good against the Zimbabweans. But if you look at their performances in the World T20 last year, they came close to winning on a number of occasions, but could not seal the deal. My job as the coach would be to help them through.

Simmons is happy with the kind of exposure his team is getting at the international level. I like to be realistic. I dont think the BCCI or the Cricket Australia would be really interested in hosting them for a series at this moment. The important thing would be to remain competitive at this level, and when that happens you are bound to get your chance against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.I think the upcoming series in the Carribean in May is a step in that direction. he added.

These are still early days, but Simmons stressed on the importance of having a robust first-class system where young talent would graduate to keep the older players on their toes. For a country wading through political and economic turmoil, they have fared well on the infrastructure front having invested on synthetic turfs and an academy in Kabul. Simmons explained that he was apprised of an academy in Kabul, which has been the nursery for upcoming talent in the country. Somebody was showing me a video of a talent hunt in Kabul. The kind of frenzy for a clinic is amazing. More that 10,000 people to watch these guys play, he concluded.

The rest is here:
After Ireland overhaul, Phil Simmons hopes to fill in the gaps for Afghanistan - The Indian Express