Aakash Chopra sends across cheeky congratulatory tweet to Dean Jones

Dean Jones’ appointment as the interim coach of the Afghanistan for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup in Hong Kong is a welcome news for the side after they chose not to renew the contract of Lalchand Rajput, who spent close to a year coaching them. The development is a positive one particularly because he is popular among players and fans after his commentary stint at the Shpageeza Cricket League.

Jones visited Kabul last month to commentate in the Twenty20 tournament and will take charge for Afghanistan’s four-day Intercontinental Cup game from 20-23 October, and could become the permanent coach, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) indicated.

Afghanistan have struggled to find a long-term solution for their coaching requirements, having changed five coaches over the past five years. Before Rajput, Inzamam-ul Haq, Rashid Latif and Kabir Khan all gave the head coach’s job a go.

The ACB in a statement said, “Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones has appointed as interim head coach of the Afghanistan National Cricket Team for the upcoming tour of Hong Kong for the Intercontinental Cup fixture. Both sides will consider a long-term coaching agreement after the tour of Hong Kong.”

In a congratulatory tweet for fellow commentator and on-screen colleague, Aakash Chopra posted a boomerang video where he is bowing down to Dean Jones with presenter Arjun Pandit, along with a message saying, “Congrats @ProfDeano ???

#IndvAus”

Here is the tweet:

Congrats @ProfDeano ???#IndvAus pic.twitter.com/zlaf8lSeq3

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 10, 2017

Last month, the fifth edition of the six-team Shpageeza tournament attracted big-name players, coaches and commentators, along with thousands of fans, lifting spirits in the war torn-country. The country rose to the Test status in June and made its historic debut at Lord’s and a permanent head coach could help Afghanistan perform to their potential in the highest level of the game.