As the business end of World Cup 2023 is drawing to a close, this event will be remembered for showcasing the arrival of Afghanistan on the global cricketing stage. Though the team, nicknamed the Blue Tigers, missed a slot in the semifinals, it has outperformed all expectations. Friday’s valiant fight against the mighty South Africans was just one of them. Afghanistan was mostly ahead in its game against the five-time World Cup winning Australian side, but lost out to Glen Maxwell who played one of the finest one-day international innings of all time. It had earlier registered a historic win over the defending champions, England. Then it beat Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and later, the Netherlands. With these four victories, Afghanistan can hold its head high for its outstanding showing in World Cup 2023. The minnows of cricket have indeed come of age.Consider the distance this team has covered. Before 2023, Afghanistan had secured only one victory across two World Cup tournaments after their qualification in 2015. This has simply been sensational. So, what accounts its cricketing prowess? Afghanistan’s cricket has been honed under the guidance of foreign coaches and participation of several of its players in top franchise leagues like the IPL. The first generation of its cricketers grew up in refugee camps in Peshawar after Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan, and the current lot are victims of the Taliban war, according to Rashid Latif, former Pakistan captain and head of Afghanistan cricket in 2010. The current coach is former English cricketer, Jonathan Trott, and the chief mentor is ex-Indian player, Ajay Jadeja.
The team’s prowess has been credited to its world-class spin attack spearheaded by Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad. While they have restricted opposing teams to modest totals, the team’s top order batsmen have been equally successful in chasing and putting runs on the board. Afghanistan put up its highest total so far against Australia, a match in which opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran also scored the first-ever ton by an Afghan player. The other dashing opener, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, has often provided an explosive start to the innings. The team also has a captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, who leads from the front with his batting.
Afghanistan’s success at World Cup 2023 has thrown up heroes who are bound to inspire the nation’s younger generation to take up cricket. Gurbaz was a cattle farmer in an impoverished village just five years ago. Fazalhaq Farooqi, a fast bowler, laboured building mud walls to buy his first bat. Over the past few weeks, they have part of a cricketing fairytale. “It is not just cricket that these guys are playing for. They are aware of the hardships that their people are enduring due to natural disasters and various other reasons. If this can bring a smile to people’s faces anywhere in the world and also encourage kids to pick up a bat or ball and get playing cricket wherever they are in Afghanistan, that is the goal that has been achieved, ” said Trott. Afghanistan must build on its success by improving cricket infrastructure like building bigger stadiums that can accommodate 50,000 spectators. Stepping up the budget for domestic cricket is also warranted, although there are bound to be constraints regarding how much resources can be devoted for this purpose, away from developmental imperatives. Looking ahead, Afghanistan’s objective must be to further develop its prowess to ensure that it remains a leading contender in the cricketing world.