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Khan dosts cheer brothers, make friends in Pune

Team bond | Players of Khost Badshah, an Afgan cricket team in city for a local tournament, feel India should help in promoting cricket in their country

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Khost Badshah players cheer during Afghanistan- Pakistan Asia Cup match on Thursday
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Noise levels in a small flat in Kondhwa seemed more than the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali stadium in Fatulla , Bangladesh on Thursday as Afghanistan took on Pakistan in a spirited fight in the ongoing Asia cup. Khost Badshah’, a club team that has traveled all the way from Afghanistan to Pune to participate in a local tournament, was cheering their country mates, hoping for the big upset. 
So overjoyed were the players that they even put behind their own travails- not getting any accommodation in local hotels as they were Afghans, losing after three matches in the tournament and adapting to yo-yo weather in Pune over the last few days. And yet their spirit hadn’t dampened one bit- for them it was a great learning experience.
Shahid Zadran, a 21-year- old all rounder of the team told dna, “ It was our first tour to India and it was a great experience. We played against some of the better teams and we got to learn a lot from this tour. If we get invitation, we will again come to Pune.”
Though the team enjoyed playing in Pune, their stay was not that exciting. The team had to manage on various fronts like finding accommodation or arranging travel. Aleem Khan Ahmadzai, one of the directors of Afghanistan Cricket Board who accompanied the team as a manager said, “We had a tough time as none of the hotels were ready to give accommodation. However, we are very grateful to the organisers that they arranged for the accommodation as well as for the food.”
“Apart from these issues, we had great trip where boys leaned a lot on how to play in different conditions. We are looking forward to participate in many such tournaments,” Ahmadzai said.
After getting knocked out from the tournament, the team members had a relaxing day on Thursday where they enjoyed watching their national team playing against Pakistan in the Asia cup. These young players also wish to get into the national side and some of them even dream to play in the Indian Premier League.
“India is like a big brother to us and if they extended their helping hand in promoting cricket in Afghanistan, we will also have good side with the talent that we have. There was a time when youth of Afghanistan did not have the freedom to play cricket but now the time has changed and we are promoting the game with a slogan, ‘throw guns and take bats in hand’. If cricket is promoted in Afghanistan, the youth of our country will be looking at this game as a career option,” Ahmadzai said.

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