Jonathan Trott will wrap up his journey as Afghanistan’s head coach following the completion of the 2026 T20 World Cup in March, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed in their latest announcement. Additionally, the ACB revealed that batting coach Andrew Puttick’s stint will end when his contract expires on December 31.
Puttick took over earlier this year after previously working with the Pakistan national team. Trott, meanwhile, began his role in July 2022 and has been instrumental in shaping Afghanistan into a competitive and formidable white-ball side. Initially signed for 18 months, he later received back-to-back yearly extensions in 2024 and 2025.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
Trott’s Tenure Marked by Historic Achievements
Under Trott’s leadership, Afghanistan enjoyed several breakthrough performances on the global stage. The highlight came during the 2024 T20 World Cup, where the team reached the semi-finals for the first time in an ICC tournament, notching iconic victories against New Zealand and Australia.
Afghanistan also made headlines in the 2023 ODI World Cup, producing remarkable upsets against England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — and almost stunning Australia, the eventual champions.
Trott expressed his gratitude for being part of Afghanistan’s rise:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕.”
Alongside their global success, Afghanistan recorded significant bilateral wins, including ODI triumphs over South Africa and Bangladesh in Sharjah. Their recent form has remained strong, with 3-0 ODI and T20I series sweeps against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, respectively.
Future Plans and Trott’s Next Chapter
During Trott’s time at the helm, Afghanistan secured qualification for the upcoming Champions Trophy, finishing inside the top eight during the 2023 ODI World Cup — another milestone in their cricketing evolution.
Trott has already lined up his next coaching role as head coach of the Gulf Giants in the upcoming ILT20 season, starting December 2. He also previously coached Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 league before Sourav Ganguly took over.
The ACB confirmed that the search for a new head coach will begin after the 2026 T20 World Cup. Notably, former fast bowler Hamid Hassan served as interim coach earlier this year during Trott’s absence, with Nawroz Mangal as his assistant.
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