Dubai, January 29: Former South Africa cricketer turned commentator Hylton Deon Ackerman was on Wednesday appointed Afghanistan's batting coach. His tenure begins with the three-match T20I series against Ireland in March, an ICC statement said.

Ackerman played four Tests for South Africa, all in 1998, and scored 161 runs from eight innings. He has impressive numbers as a first-class cricketer, with 14,625 runs at an average of 43.65 with 40 hundreds and a high score of 309*.

The coaching staff is headed by his former international teammate Lance Klusener, who was appointed in September last year, a few months after Afghanistan's winless campaign at the 2019 World Cup.

Afghanistan's last international assignment was against West Indies in November-December 2019. They won the T20I series 2-1, but were swept in the three-match ODI series and beaten comprehensively in the one-off Test in Lucknow.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 29, 2020 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).