The Afghanistan Cricket Board has named Australian Nirmalan Thanabalasingam as the new physiotherapist and former Ireland player John Mooney as the new fielding coach for the National Team. In anticipation of the forthcoming T20I assignments, both have joined the ongoing training and preparation camp.
John Mooney has played for Ireland in 91 international matches, including two ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and three ICC Cricket World Cups in 2007, 2011, and 2015.
The England Cricket Board has awarded him Level 3, 2, and 1 Coaching Certificates. From 2018 to 2019, he was the Afghanistan National Team’s fielding coach. Since January of this year, he has served as a relief coach for the Ireland Women’s National Team. In 2019, he also worked with the West Indies Cricket Team.
Sports science and physiotherapy are two fields in which Nirmalan Thanabalasingam has a strong professional and academic background. After earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Sydney in 2008, he went on to get a Master of Physiotherapy in 2010. He is an active member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and a registered practitioner with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia.
Sports injury treatment and exercise-based rehabilitation are two areas in which Nirmalan is quite interested. He has been employed at Concord Sports Medicine since 2018 as the Senior Physiotherapist. Additionally, since 2020, he has served as the Desert Vipers’ team physiotherapist in the International League T20 (ILT20). Nirmalan previously served as Sri Lanka Cricket’s High Performance Training & Rehabilitation Manager from March 2017 to June 2018.
His work with Cricket NSW, Rangpur Riders (BPL), Montreal Tigers (GT20 – Canada), ICC World XI, Sydney Thunder (BBL), and the West Harbour Rugby Union Club are just a few of his many experiences in the top tiers of elite sport.
Afghanistan is currently in Abu Dhabi for a training and preparation camp in anticipation of the ACC Men’s T20I Asia Cup 2025 and the Tri-Nation T20I Series, which will include Pakistan and the host United Arab Emirates.
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