New Delhi, Jul 29 (IANS): Jonathan Trott, the former England batter who currently coaches Afghanistan, will be taking over as Pretoria Capitals' head coach in the upcoming SA20 season. Trott replaces Graham Ford, who left the role at the franchise earlier this month.

Under Ford, the Capitals became runners-up in season one of SA20, but had a difficult time and finished in fifth place in the second season of the tournament. This is the second major shake-up in the Capitals’ franchise world after Ricky Ponting parted ways with Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Trott comes into the role ahead of Season 3 of SA20 on the back of delivering spectacular results with a much-improved Afghanistan in two consecutive World Cups.

In the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, Afghanistan beat teams like New Zealand, Bangladesh and Australia to enter the semifinals for the first time, before losing to South Africa in Trinidad, making this their best-ever performance in the global trophy of the shortest format.

In the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, Afghanistan beat England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Netherlands in an impressive campaign in India. The SA20 coaching stint with the Capitals also marks Trott’s return to South Africa, the country of his birth.

He attended the prestigious Rondebosch Boys’ High School in Cape Town and represented South Africa at U-15 and U-19 levels, as well as played for Western Province and Boland before pursuing an international playing career for England (52 Tests, 68 ODIs and 7 T2OIs) and being associated with Warwickshire County Cricket Club in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Sunrisers Eastern Cape have confirmed the Netherlands’ all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe will come back to the side for SA20 Season 3 after being unavailable for the previous edition.

In the inaugural season, van der Merwe was the joint leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps, coming at an economy rate of just 5.62, including taking 4-31 against the Capitals to win the Player of the Final award.