Coach Darren Lehmann said Brisbane had been keen to re-sign the South African, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League, but factors emerged that "changed everyone's plans".
The pressure was on AB to do the job and boy, did he do it in style!
Mohammad Shahzad struck a lusty 84 runs to propel Afghanistan to a seven-wicket victory over the West Indies to win the World Cup qualifying tournament at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
IMAGES from the Asia Cup match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan played in Lahore on Sunday
Players from New Zealand and Australia made significant gains in the rankings updated after the first two matches of the ongoing series between the two sides.
Jos Buttler made a scathing assessment of the HPCA Stadium outfield, terming it as 'poor'
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab on Monday
Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (716) is next in Rashid's sights, though Josh Hazlewood (792) boasts a strong margin at the top of the list.
Opting to field, West Indies bowlers came up with a fine show to bundle out Afghanistan for 194 in 45.2 overs.
Images from Monday's World Cup match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, in Southampton.
Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Mohali, on Sunday.
Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson picked up three wickets each as New Zealand trounced Afghanistan by 149 runs.
None of the players attending the camp are being tested for COVID-19 but only those who haven't shown any symptoms like fever, have been allowed to join.
The home team's bowlers will be wary of Chris Gayle's power-hitting.
One of the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League over the last five years, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to improve upon their middle-order batting in the upcoming 14th edition of the T20 league.
Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten 201 off 128 balls, single-handedly guiding Australia to an improbable three-wicket win over Afghanistan.
Krunal Pandya helps Mumbai Indians snatch a thrilling 6 wicket win to keep their hopes alive in IPL-11.
Ahead of the Indian Premier League players' auction on Thursday, captain KL Rahul revealed what his team Punjab Kings will be aiming for -- a middle order batsman, who can close down games along with a fast bowler.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo wrote his own piece of history, while Praveen Tambe became the first Indian cricketer to play in the Hero Caribbean Premier League as Trinbago Knight Riders posted their fourth straight win, beating St Lucia Zouks by six wickets via D/L method in a rain-truncated match, in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
India captain Virat Kohli and senior batsman Rohit Sharma retained their number one and two position respectively in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen, while pacer Jasprit Bumrah remained at the third spot in the bowler's list.
KXIP had finished the IPL 2020 season at the sixth spot under the leadership of KL Rahul. Punjab is yet to win the IPL title and the side has made it to the finals in 2014. But they suffered a loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Rajneesh Gupta lists the Afghan players's T20 Internationals records updated after the game against India in the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan dismissed England for 215 to create one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
'Taliban have warned that Afghan media outlets should not broadcast the Indian Cricket League due to girls dancing and the presence of female audience and spectators in stadiums.'
Another positive for England was Mark Wood, who returned from injury recently, and he was back to his best with all 24 deliveries bowled by the pacer, above 140 clicks.
Afghanistan mystery spinner Mujeeb Zadran says tricks of the trade learnt from Ravichandran Ashwin in this season's Indian Premier League will come in handy during his team's inaugural Test against India, starting in Bengaluru from Thursday.
Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan produced a match-turning effort for Sunrisers Hyderabad with the ball.
Afghanistan showed some fight to set a target of 208 runs to win for Australia on Saturday.
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
Haq said that Afghanistan's players prepared well for the tournament and it showed in their effort.
'The only thing in my mind while bowling last over is to execute your plans and back your skills'
Shakib Al Hasan, on Monday, became the leading run-scorer in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
Kings XI Punjab face the uphill task of not only pulling the rug from under the feet of formidable Chennai Super Kings but also boosting their net run-rate in the last IPL round-robin match to salvage hopes of sneaking into the play-offs.
Kings XI Punjab registered a comfortable six wicket win over laggards Rajasthan Royals
Table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and a transformed Kings XI Punjab cross swords in an Indian Premier League contest in which big-hitting Jamaicans Andre Russell and Chris Gayle will be up against each other in Kolkata on Saturday.
The unbeaten streak of table-toppers Surisers Hyderabad would be up for a test when they take on third-placed Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League contest, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Hope smashed three sixes and eight fours in his 145-ball 109 not out to help West Indies overhauled the target,
Images from Saturday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians vs SunRisers Hyderabad, in Chennai.
'You have to be focussed 100 percent, that is the quality of the IPL.' 'If your preparation is not up to the mark, you will face a lot of problems.'
