Real winners of World T20 are Afghan players
Down with viral fever for a third day, on Tuesday morning, I grudgingly received a call from an unknown number only to realise that it was an old Afghan journalist friend from Kandahar, Ghosuddin Frotan, who is visiting India with friends to cheer their cricket team in ICC World T20.
We planned to meet in the evening and he promised to call after meeting some of the players. Later in the afternoon, he called with an unusual request: "We want to get a few posters, banners designed and printed for Wednesday's match against England."
We met at Nehru Place and spent a good four hours deciding on words, colours, photographs, et al for the banners and had them printed - six in total! Besides cheering for the Blue Tigers, a number of posters appealed to India/BCCI to allow the cricketers to play in the IPL and one to ICC to let the team play Test matches. "We want Shahzad ka jalwa in IPL," reads one. "Inviting Afghan players in IPL will further strengthen Afghan-India ties," says another.
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| All guns blazing. |
Going by the record of some players, it is time IPL franchises opened their doors for the likes of Mohammad Shahzad, Asghar Stanikzai; All rounders like Mohammad Nabi and medium pacers like Shapoor Zadran can surely add to the bench strength of any team.
Wicketkeeper-cum-batsman Shahzad is particularly impressive with his score of 44 off just 19 balls against the Proteas in Mumbai. He has scored more than 1,300 runs in 46 matches at an average of more than 30.
Till some decades ago, very few in Afghanistan played cricket. Most of them picked up the gentleman's game as refugees in Pakistan in 1990s - perhaps the silver lining in decades of conflict. But the cricket fever has gripped the conflict-ridden country more than ever.
In 2014, I found young Afghans playing cricket on the streets, on mountains and in office yards during lunch breaks. The 2010 British documentary Out of the Ashes, beautifully captures the rise of the Afghan cricket team and eventual qualification for the 2010 ICC World T20, their first major tournament.
As an associate member of the ICC, Afghanistan has had the One Day status since 2011, and is ranked ninth among the T20 teams, above Test-playing full members Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
They also became the 20th team to play the ODI World Cup in 2015 and went on to win a match against Scotland.
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| Afghanistan is clearly a dark horse. |
Afghanistan Cricket Board has an MoU with Pakistan Cricket Board under which the latter helps develop sport infrastructure and technical knowhow. The current batting coach is former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haque. Meanwhile, India has offered Afghanistan a new "home" ground, at Greater Noida in the National Capital Region. They are also helping build a cricket stadium in Kandahar and the current bowling coach is former Indian pacer Manoj Prabhakar. For many, the political crisis in Afghanistan is the result of a proxy war between India and Pakistan. At least, euphemistically, it is wonderful to see the two nations come together to help build a young cricket team from the region.
Ahmad Wali Raisi, one of Frotan's friends, currently in Delhi to cheer for the team, asked me: "Do you think we are overenthusiastic or showing off?"
In a country divided on several fault lines, sports, particularly cricket, have become a uniting factor - and a possible cause for celebration. In fact, there are reports that even the Taliban cheers for the Afghan cricket team. From Mohali to Mumbai, hundreds of Afghan students as well as tens of visiting Afghan fans can be seen cheering for the team.
In Delhi, a larger crowd of Afghans is expected as the capital hosts thousands of Afghan refugees and other Afghans on short/long term visas as well as a large number of students.
In the ongoing tournament, Afghanistan is clearly a dark horse; it may not win a match - or who knows, it may just spring up a shocker. But they have the zeal of amateurs and impress with their stamina and technique.
Clearly, one area where Afghans need to work is fielding, as they end up giving the opponent an extra 20-30 runs and at times miss catches. I suggested, on a light vein, to visiting Afghan friends that Mohammad Kaif, one of our finest fielders, would be a good fielding coach for their team.
Above all, it is greater exposure that will help Afghanistan gain confidence and surely bring opportunities for few players in the IPL. Some of the Blue Tigers, who are now practising on an international pitch and under Indian weather conditions, will be assets to any team and also expand the franchises' fan base.