Known for his support to the sport on an off the field, Lalchand Rajput is a memorable cricketer from the past of Indian cricket.

Having lost his place to Ravi Shastri late in his career, Rajput turned to a place in the administration of the sport and joint honorary secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association.

He went on to coach the Indian national U-19 team and was also named the manager of the Indian side that brought home the World T20 title in 2007.

He also took over as a coach of the Mumbai Indians in the first edition of the Indian Premier League and has always been a part of the sport in the country.

However, the 54-year old has now accepted an offer away from Indian cricket and has now been named the head coach of a national team.

The Afghanistan national team has announced earlier in the day that the former Indian batsman Lalchand Rajput will coach the national side for at least a year to come.

The other options for the Afghanistan board were former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf, former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs and former West Indies fast bowler Corey Collymore but they decided to give the responsibility to Rajput hoping for him to share some of his expertise from his time with the Indian national team.

The first few months are set to be very busy for the 54-year old as Afghanistan are scheduled to play Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands away from home in the next two months.

“The Indian cricket board has been helping us to find a suitable candidate for the head coach post. Lalchand Rajput has coached many Indian players and teams. He is also a successful coach. We would like to invite him for the interview,” the chief of the Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement.

Interestingly, Rajput will take over the place vacated by Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq who did not have a glorious start to his coaching career.

The 54-year old is expected to take his place immediately and will hope that he can get his squad ready in time for their first tour to Scotland in July.