Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai has changed his name to Asghar Afghan in ‘honour of protecting the national identity of Afghan citizens’.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed the name change on their Twitter account on Thursday after the batsman had registered for the new Electronic National Identity Card.

Stanikzai has been an instrumental figure for the national team, scoring more than 2,000 international runs since making his debut in 2009.

The Kabul-born player has featured in one Test, 86 ODIs and 54 T20Is in a remarkable journey that saw Afghanistan qualify for the 2015 World Cup and achieve Test status.