Kabir Khan, the former UAE coach, resigned from his role in charge of Afghanistan on Tuesday, saying the job was putting too much strain on his family.
His departure is a significant blow to Afghanistan's preparations for next year's World Cup as they seek to make an impression on their debut appearance.
The Afghans sealed qualification for the competition for the first time when they beat Kenya in Sharjah last October.
Kabir has been in charge of both UAE and Afghanistan twice. He also cited family commitments, namely an inability to find a suitable school for his children here, when he resigned as UAE coach at the start of 2012.
“The simple reason is that my family was suffering from my being away on tours, and I was not enjoying coaching,” Kabir said on Tuesday.
The Afghans, who play their home matches in exile at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, will play a series of one-day internationals against the UAE in Dubai later this year.
Under Kabir, Afghanistan qualified for three World Twenty20 events, in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
He denied his resignation would hurt Afghanistan.
"I think qualifying for the World Cup was more important than playing it, so I don't think my not being there will affect the performance, " Kabir said.
The former Pakistan bowler’s first stint came to an end after interference in his work by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in 2010. He denied this was a factor this time.
“No, there was no interference,” he said. “When you don’t enjoy your work it’s not advisable to continue and let another man do the job because Afghanistan are going to play in an important event.”
The former New Zealand coach Andy Moles is likely to replace Kabir, having been appointed batting coach of the Afghanistan team earlier this year.
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