Afghanistan’s World Twenty20 fairytale marks rise of a cricketing nation
A decade ago, it would have taken a foolhardy soothsayer to predict that Afghanistan would be mixing it with the big boys of cricket at the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
Such a prophecy would have been roundly dismissed for two very good reasons: neither the Afghanistan cricket team nor the competition existed.
The fact that Afghanistan are at the World Twenty20 this year, then, points to a remarkably rapid rise through the cricketing world since the national team was formed in 2001.
Since then, they have overcome the obvious obstacles of a lack of experience and facilities in a country with a recent past dominated by the Taliban and war, to storm past more established sides to claim various minor titles and championships.
Among the accolades they’ve picked up are the ICC World Cricket League Division Five champions, ICC World Cricket League Division Four champions, ICC World Cricket League Division Three, and this year the ACC Trophy Elite, when they defeated Nepal by 95 runs in last month’s final.
But the victory that really put Afghanistan on the radar was their win against Ireland in the final of the World Twenty20 Qualifier, held in the United Arab Emirates during February.
The plucky players won over fans with their confident brand of cricket, even if that was not always matched by their respective abilities. No-one though could doubt the excitement that was beginning to build around the Afghanistan side, the first Affiliate Member of the ICC to qualify for a senior ICC event, the World Twenty20.
Success has not just come in the shortest form of the game either, with Afghanistan becoming the 22nd nation to play ODIs in April 2009. In the 12 months since, they’ve claimed the scalps of Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada in the fifty-over format.
So, while it was an admittedly raw Afghanistan squad that landed in the Caribbean for the World Twenty20, it was by no means a squad that opposition teams could afford to underestimate.
“If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play,” said MS Dhoni at a pre-World Twenty20 press conference.
The reality, when Afghanistan opened their World Twenty20 campaign against India was that India recorded a seven-wicket victory, but Dhoni had plenty of praise for his opponents after the match.
"They batted really well after losing the first three wickets, their middle order was really good,” Dhoni said.
"And they were not letting anything go when they were fielding and bowling and it is a really good sign to see them play the way they did.”
In truth, the signs have all been good for Afghanistan as their star has risen rapidly over in recent times. Their World Twenty20 fairytale will in all likelihood come to an end against South Africa in the group stage today, but what a fairytale it has been.
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