Afghanistan cricket: Rise of a war-torn nation

Afghanistan fans congregated on the bank to cheer their team

Two Twenty20 World Cups appearances with a 3rd chance in the coming month of March in Bangladesh: Afghanistan is on a roller-coaster ride when it comes to their international cricket lately.

It wasn’t a long time ago when in October 3 last year, they qualified for 2015 Cricket World cup; defeated Kenya to finish second in the World Cricket League Championship with Ireland topping the table from Associate members pool of the ICC.

History

Talking about a civil-war affected nation where the Taliban is more authentic and vividly acknowledged amid countrymen than the local government, cricket has got a better way to unite people tightly.

Although it was only during the Afghan wars that cricket became popular amongst refugee camps – established in the North West Frontier Province region of Pakistan in the 1980s. Following the developments, later in 1995, Afghanistan Cricket Federation was formed. And since then, there has been no looking back.

Making into the members list of Asian Cricket Council in 2003 and attaining an Affiliate membership from the ICC in 2001, cricket is the only sport in Afghanistan to be approved by the Taliban in the year 2000.

Domestic Structure and Performance

Over the years, playing in various ICC and ACC tournaments, Afghanistan cricket team have displayed constant improvement and received praiseworthy mentions from every corner of the world.

The Afghanistan players celebrate their 34-run win over Kenya

Not only the international performance, but the domestic structure of cricket also got change by the course of time. Inter-provincial tournament which started with 25-over match and 22 provinces, later, in 2011, was reorganised to a 50-over match format and divided into two sections: Challenge Cup and Elite Cup.

The UAE based Telecommunications Company Etisalat is now the main sponsor of Afghanistan Cricket amongst others.Afghanistan’s progress and development in cricket arena reflects from the fact that it’s the only country that received Associate membership in a short period of time. The reward came through Asian Cricket Council (ACC) who nominated Afghanistan after a continuous progress in the country’s cricket development.

After ACC, UAE cricket board also come up to support Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) by announcing Sharjah Cricket Stadium as Afghanistan’s home ground for use in ODIs and first-class cricket due to security issues in the war-torn country.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) too took major steps towards Afghanistan’s 2015 World Cup preparation by providing technical and professional support including high performance camps and advanced coaching skills courses.

In the recent fixture of ICC U19 World Cup, Afghanistan’s junior cricket team stunned three-times champion and last year’s runners-up Australia by 36 runs in the second league match of Group B. whilst senior team is all set to debut in the 2014 Asia Cup against current champion Pakistan on Feb 27, 2014 in Bangladesh.

Timeline

1995: Foundation of Afghanistan Cricket Federation, now known as Afghanistan Cricket Board2000: Cricket becomes the only sport approved by the Taliban2001: Became an Affiliate member of the ICC2003: Inducted in the Asian Cricket Council2007: Won first tournament, shared ACC Twenty20 Cup with Oman2009: Became the first Affiliate member in the history to get ODI status. Won the first ODI v Scotland by 89 runs2010: Played first T20I v Ireland, lost by 5 wickets. Later, qualified for 2010 ICC World Twnety20 – team’s first major tournament2012: Played first ODI match against Full-time ICC Member (v Pak in February and v Aus in August)2013: Promoted to Associate members of the ICC. Also, qualified for 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup – their maiden 50-over world cup

Stats

ODIs: Total 27, Won 16, Lose 11T20I: Total 22, Won 11, Lose 11

Unity via cricket

Steadily making baby-steps, Afghanistan is rapidly impacting cricketing world through its potential whilst leaving a roomful of possibilities to be a new emerging Asian giant.

Cricket in Afghanistan not only resurrecting people’s life, but also evolving a new nation. Kabul’s National Cricket Stadium recently witnessed an example of it when home team arrived after qualifying for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. There was a huge celebration – continuing from the airport to the stadium. A massive number of people were out on roads, fearlessly. There was no scar that day. All they want is to cheer for their team.

Indeed, sports have the ability to provide ways of friendly communication. Nelson Mandela was true in saying that:

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”