U19 Champs, World-Class Players: Afghanistan Cricket’s Heady Rise

Cricket in Afghanistan is booming and the cricketers no longer see themselves as the minnows of the game.

Two days before the Under-19 Asia Cup final in Kuala Lumpur, we were shooting photographs of both teams for the television broadcast. First came Pakistan, all young men, wide-eyed and innocent – some smiling, others too shy to do so. All of them came up to the official photographer to check if their photos were all right, anxious to check that they didn't look too awkward on the broadcast.

Then came Afghanistan. They appeared calmer, more mature, more professional and even, perhaps, more arrogant. One of the fast bowlers posed with his collar turned upwards. ‘No,’ said the photographer, ‘the collar must be turned down’. The young man refused. “My collar always stays up. And that is how my photo will be taken.” It took a word to the manager to persuade him to pose in more conventional fashion. All of them looked more at ease with the camera. There was no anxiety about whether they looked okay. They KNEW they looked fine.

Clearly, if Afghanistan lack anything, it isn’t confidence.

They no longer see themselves as the minnows of the game and this was apparent in this event, where they thrashed Pakistan not once, but twice, to sweep to victory ahead of the established powers – India, Sri Lanka and of course, Pakistan.

Afghanistan Cricket is Booming

Afghanistan’s senior team is now the most highly regarded of all the non-Test playing nations and they will play their maiden Test against Zimbabwe early next year. It has been a heady rise for a nation that only set up its cricket federation in 1995, won its first international event (the ACC T20 event, jointly with Oman) in 2007, and then qualified for the ICC World T20 in 2010.

There have been some very fine players – fast bowlers Hamid Hassan, Shapoor and Dawlat Zadran, wicket-keeper batsman Mohammed Shahzad and all rounders such as Mohammad Nabi – but the real superstar has been young leg spinner Rashid Khan, only 19, but coveted by T20 leagues around the world.

Rashid Khan has changed the perception of Afghan cricket and has lent the team a cutting-edge across formats.

More importantly, despite his age, Rashid is an idol for youngsters in Afghanistan, who, not so long ago, only wanted to run in from the boundary and bowl quick.

Afghanistan’s Mystery Spinner

In Kuala Lumpur, we saw the emergence of Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. Only 17, this young man is a true mystery spinner, running in gently and delivering a mixture of off-spinners, carrom balls and leg-spinners with the same open chested action, which, while not classical, is unusually clean for a bowler of his ilk.

Consider this: the spinner opened the bowling in all five games, snaring 20 wickets in 40 overs at 5.55 runs per wicket! In two matches against Pakistan, he took 11 wickets for just 36 runs in 17 overs. Nobody had a clue as to how to tackle him and the two spinners in the commentary box, India’s left-armers Venkatapathy Raju and Sunil Joshi, were both left singing praises of his ability, control and temperament.

While Mujeeb was the undoubted star, there were others who excelled – Darwish Rasool scored an unbeaten 100 and a fifty, while Rehmanullah Gurbaz was consistent throughout the event. In the final, wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khil, who had scored almost nothing in the tournament, survived a torrid first few overs before opening out towards the end to score a magnificent century under pressure on a difficult pitch to give Afghanistan a fighting total of 248 in 50 overs. Eventually, it turned out that they required far less as Pakistan folded for only 63, to give Afghanistan a crushing 185-run win.

There’s a busy period of cricket lined up for the Afghanistan senior team, beginning with the ICC Intercontinental Cup game versus the UAE in Abu Dhabi later this month, followed by a three-match ODI series versus Ireland in Sharjah. The Under-19 team will also be looking forward to the World Cup in New Zealand in January, where they should start among the favourites.

It has been a meteoric rise by any yardstick, but for a nation torn apart by war, and where bomb blasts are a way of life, this success has been nothing short of sensational and explains why Afghanistan's is such a wonderful story to tell every time they go out to compete on the world stage.

Now, of course, they are aiming for this success to be permanent and not just a feel-good story.

(Hemant Buch is broadcaster and writer who's worked for over two decades in this field. Cricket is his profession, and racket sports, his passion. He tweets @hemantbuch)

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