Cricket in Afghanistan
The popularity of the game of cricket in Afghanistan is increasing day by day. At present, there are almost six turf wickets and 320 cricket clubs in Afghanistan. In the middle of 19th century, the game was played for the first time in Afghanistan. In 1839, the British troops deployed in the country used to play the game of cricket in the capital city of Kabul. However, it took more than a hundred years when finally, the game returned to the country of the Afghans.
In the 1990’s, cricket became famous amongst the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This prompted the creation of the Federation of Afghanistan cricket in 1995. The refugees kept on playing the game even after they came back to their homeland. It was initially prohibited by the Taliban regime like any other sport. However, the ban was lifted in 2000 and ICC elected the Federation of Afghanistan Cricket as an affiliate member in 2001.
The Afghanistan cricket team that now represents the country at the international level was given an official One-Day status in April 17, 2009. As a result, the official governing body of cricket in Afghanistan was given to the Cricket Federation of Afghanistan (CFA). The present headquarter of this federation is in Kabul which also serves as the capital city of the country. Afghanistan Cricket Federation is a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Afghanistan’s national cricket team jumped to international limelight within no time through the World Cricket League in May 2008. After showing their true colours, the team went on to participate in the Qualifiers to vie for a place in the World Cup in 2011.
In the Elite division of the ACC Trophy, Afghanistan managed to perform at par with the other teams. However, their first major tournament occurred in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2010 in the West Indies. They qualified for it after a gruelling round of matches in Sharjah after defeating Ireland in the final on Feb 13th, 2010.
The Afghanistan team played its first One-Day international match against Scotland. The team performed brilliantly and defeated Scotland by a good margin of 89 runs. The Afghans played their maiden international first class game in the Intercontinental Cup in in Mutare, Zimbabwe against a Zimbabwe XI. Noor Ali from the Afghanistan side smashed a century in both of his innings although the match ended up in a draw. Noor has become the fourth player to hit a hundred from the Afghanistan side.
Later on, at the VRA Cricket Ground, Afghanistan played a match versus Netherlands in August 2009 and won it by just a wicket. The team also participated in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup in the UAE and surprisingly won all five of their matches in Group A. Through this performance, Afghanistan entered the semi-final match where the Afghanistan cricket team knocked out Kuwait with a comprehensive 8 wicket victory. The team powered into the final against the United Arab Emirates. In a thrilling anti-climax, the hosts won the final match of the tournament by 84 runs, crushing Afghanistan’s dream run. Mohammad Nabi came out with a brilliant all-round performance with a wonderful knock of 73 runs along with four wickets and was named the man of the match. As a result of this victory, the Afghanistan team made their way into the 2010 Asian Games.
On 1st February 2010, Afghanistan lost to Ireland by five wickets in its first T20 International match. The Afghanistan team does not play their home matches in Afghanistan due to security concerns. They have also expressed their wish of playing against Pakistan in Afghanistan in near future. With newer teams entering into the world of international cricket, a growing cricketing base of fans and teams augurs well for the future of the game.
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