If you were to put the words Afghanistan and cricket together, one would naturally think it’s an oxymoron! I say this due to this great country being sadly embroiled in war for over a decade. Thankfully though, there has been one shining light over the past decade for Afghanistan and that has been their cricket team.
In recent years, with the greatest respect as far as showcasing their talents on the world stage has been concerned, Afghanistan have been see as almost making up the numbers. Fans of Afghanistan and cricket fans alike, would be hoping this changes.
If the recent matches are anything to go by, maybe there is something to ‘shout about’. The Afghans who are an ‘Associate nation’ needed to qualify for the up and coming T20 world cup and much to the surprise of many, yours truly included, the Asian team qualified with flying colours.
With potentially tricky games in the offing against Scotland and Zimbabwe, qualification to the main draw was far from certain, but with comprehensive wins over Scotland, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong, Afghanistan against the odds will be ‘mixing it with the big boys’.
Should we be that surprised ? This Afghanistan team is coached by legendary Pakistani Inzamam Ul-Haq who was a big winner on the pitch, so no doubt the former Pakistan skipper will be a winner off of it as well – Ul-Haq has winning in his DNA .
On the field Afghanistan in their own right do posses talented players such as Mohammed Shahzad and Asghar Stanikzai who have impressed on the world stage before. The Afghans have given a good account of themselves against the ‘big sides’ and have pushed them close over the years.
Just like Bangladesh have developed into a dangerous unit, so will Afghanistan. They have good bowlers, good batsmen and a wicketkeeper batsmen, which all sides rely on in this day and age.
It will take the Afghans time no doubt, as they need the experience, but you heard it here first: Afghanistan will be a very good cricket team… just watch this space.
