From the Barren deserts of Afghanistan to the glitz and glamour of IPL

A lot of associate countries have featured in ICC’s agenda to promote the sport of Cricket globally. ICC has successfully managed to bring in competitive cricket in nations such as Namibia, Kenya, Scotland, Hong Kong, UAE, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland and many more. Participation of these countries has given us some of the greatest underdog tales.

Who can forget Kenya’s winning streak in the World Cup of 2003, where they upset some of the giants in the game. A spirited Netherland team defeated England in their own backyard while hosting the T20 world cup of 2009. Zimbabwe shocked one and all by snatching victory from the jaws of the great Australian side which featured in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

However, there is no greater romantic tale to tell than the story of Afghanistan Cricket, who have made giant strides in world Cricket. A country plagued with terrorism and lack of infrastructure host some of the most ardent cricket fans and talents. Today, players such as Mohammad Shehzad, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi have established their own brand which people identify as Afghanistan Cricket.

How it all started?

Afghanistan has struggled their way into the Top 10 ODI rankings, with no grounds to practice on and asking for support from other boards for grounds to play cricket on and organizing leagues to take part in. From the deserts of Kabul and its outskirts, the team has competed all over the globe to attain its affiliate membership and to take part in a major ICC event, from Tanzania to New Jersey and all the way down south to Argentina, playing in lower division cricket. Finally, the team received its breakthrough moment in St.Lucia when they competed against the South African team in ICC World T20 Championship 2010. It was the start of something beautiful for Afghanistan Cricket as they went on to impress on and all with their act of valor and heart on the field.

It has been a resilient journey for the Afghans from receiving their affiliate status way back in 2001 to clinch full-time status of ICC recently. The Marleybone Cricket Club too played its part in the promotion of cricket in their country. President Matthew Fleming traversed across to visit Jalalabad to monitor the first coaching camp in the country under the MCC Spirit of Cricket banner back in 2009. They invited Mohammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan in the MCC Young Cricketers program.

A recent photo went viral all over social media, which demonstrates the humble beginnings of the Afghans, trying to make most of the facilities provided to them while filling their stomachs up under a tree. If one cannot inspire himself seeing the image, nothing will.

Standout Moments for Afghanistan Cricket

Since their arrival on the international scene, the Afghanis have displayed glimpses of being champions with some of the most standout moments in World Cricket, especially in the past couple of years. Afghanis displayed a substantial amount of fight in their World Cup campaign down under in 2015. The world got to know about the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Nawroz Mangal and Asghar Stanikzai who had been pillars of Afghanistan Cricket. They were instrumental in Afghanistan’s progression into the world stage coming in from the bottom of second division cricket.

Zadran brothers and Hamid Hassan grabbed all the limelight with their Akhtaresque zeal and emphatic celebrations. Though they could only manage the sixth spot in the Pool A table, the Afghanis did not go back home empty-handed. Afghanis defeated the Scottish side, who have been in the circuit for ages now without any prominent result to show for.

Everybody would acknowledge the name of Mohammad Shehzad by now due to his blitzkrieg with the bat, opening the innings against South Africans in ICC World T20 Championship in 2016. In pursuit of a mammoth target of 202, Afghanistan made a match out of it by almost chasing it down. The prevailing memory of the match has to be Shehzad taking on arguably one of the best fast bowler in the world, Dale Steyn, and taking him to the cleaners by smashing him all across the Wankhede. The hearty wicket keeper showed no regards for the fast bowlers, thereby, shell-shocking everybody.

Although the Afghanis could not make it deep into the tournament, they won hearts of everyone in the cricket fraternity by defeating the eventual winners of the tournament, West Indies, in their last league match. Afghanis Champion Dance with the likes of Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo is still etched in the minds of everyone who followed the tournament. Samiullah Shenwari also invented a new shot popularly known as the “cockroach shot” which was basically an extension of a reverse pull couple with a comic overbalance and falling flat on the back.

The Franchise Cricket Implication

Following their impressive performances in Desert T20 and other competitions, Afghanistan showed the entire cricketing fraternity that they are a force to reckon with by overhauling established side such as Ireland, Netherlands, and Zimbabwe. They are even in contention for a Test Status with the downfall of Zimbabwe cricket in the recent years. Some of the key players from their side were also inducted for 2017 IPL auction.

The party started in Afghanistan after Mohammad Nabi and 18-year old Rashid Khan were picked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad this February. It was an emotional moment for the Afghani duo and all the folks back in their homeland as they became the first two players to take part in the most sought after T20 league in the world.

Khan was sold out for a whopping amount of 4 crores while Nabi went for his base price of 30 lakhs INR. after the news of the Afghan duo being picked up in the IPL spread like wildfire all across the globe, the Caribbean Premier League was quick to rope the Afghans in. Rashid Khan is set to represent  Guyana Amazon Warriors in the upcoming edition of the Carribean Premier League while Nabi will put the jersey of St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.Shapoor Zadran and Mohammad Nabi were also picked up in the PSL auction. Shapoor also represented the Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier Leauge

Cut to 17^th April 2017, places like Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad must have celebrated this memorable day as the Afghani duo terrorized the Kings XI with their bowling by breaking the backbone of the middle order which boasts of stalwarts such as David Miller, Glenn Maxwell and Eoin Morgan.

Rashid lit up the entire country by hitting the last ball of Sunrisers innings into the stands, which happened to be the first ball he faced. It was heartening to see the duo make a name for themselves and eclipsing the likes Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Mustafizur Rahman, David Warner and Kane Williamson in the team, thereby, bringing laurels to their motherland.

There were also voices of Mohammad Shehzad taking part in the IPL replacing an injured De Kock in the tournament. This would not have been possible had the Afghanistan were like any other so-called “Minnows” who came and went during the course of the last two decades.

To conclude, one can easily vouch for the fact that Afghanistan will prove to be one of the potent forces in world cricket by displaying their brand of cricket. Currently, they have easily removed their Afghani stereotype of Kabuliwallas and the generations to come will identify the country with the likes of Nabi’s and the Zadran’s. The Afghanistan Cricket team is lined up to play the Marleybourne Cricket Club in their maiden fixture at the home of cricket. They will set foot into the hallowed turfs of Lord’s for the first time playing alongside stalwarts such as Brendon McCullum.