Afghanistan appoints Toby Radford as batting coach ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 just a month away, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has strengthened its backroom staff by appointing experienced Welsh coach Toby Radford as the national team’s batting coach.

The ACB confirmed Radford’s appointment on January 13, replacing Andrew Puttick in the role. Alongside Radford, Robert Ahmun has been named the new strength and conditioning trainer. Both appointments are for one year and will come into effect ahead of Afghanistan’s final T20I assignment before the World Cup, a three-match series against West Indies in Dubai from January 19 to 22. With head coach Jonathan Trott expected to step down after the tournament, the board is also in the process of recruiting a new head coach and a spin bowling coach.

Radford is a former first-class cricketer for Middlesex and Sussex. Notably, he is an ECB Level 4 certified coach and is widely regarded as a specialist in batting development. Currently serving as the head coach of Dhaka Capitals, Radford has previously worked as the batting coach at the Pakistan Cricket Board’s High Performance Centre between 2022 and 2024 and as Head of High Performance for the Bangladesh Cricket Board from 2020 to 2022.

Afghanistan names 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup

He was also part of the West Indies support staff during their victorious 2012 ICC T20 World Cup campaign and their historic Test series win in England in 2019. Furthermore, Radford guided Middlesex to a national T20 title in 2008 and later served as head coach of Glamorgan. Meanwhile, Robert Ahmun is an elite S&C specialist from Wales and most recently served as Head of Performance Science and Medicine at the ECB. 

Afghanistan has named a strong 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, which will also feature in the West Indies series. Rashid Khan will captain the team, with players such as Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, and Fazalhaq Farooqi forming the core. The squad also sees the return of Gulbadin Naib and Naveen-ul-Haq, while Mujeeb replaces AM Ghazanfar in the main squad. Placed in Group D alongside New Zealand, South Africa, the UAE, and Canada, Afghanistan will begin their campaign against New Zealand on February 8 in Chennai.