Finally, Afghanistan cricket gets a shot in the arm

On Friday, June 28, Afghans had thronged a cricket stadium in big numbers for the final of a regional T20 tournament played along the lines of IPL.

To their pleasant surprise, it was announced during the match that their country’s cricket board has been promoted to the next level in world governing body of the sport. ICC two days ago decided to make the war-ravaged country an associate member — just one step away from regular membership.

As soon as Afghanistan’s promotion was announced at ICC annual conference in London on June 27, there were no end to celebrations among Afghanistan’s cricket-starved fans.

Afghanistan has made rapid progress in recent times. It has been the most impressive teams over the last few years among the other affiliate nations. They have played two T20 WCs — 2010 (WI) and 2012 (SL) and were impressive even though not progressed in them.

This means that Afghanistan will get increased funding from $700,000 to $850,000 annually. Apart from that, the most important — exposure, as they will get to play quality cricket against some of the best teams on a regular basis.

Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) high performance manager, Basheer Stanikzai, sees it as a great opportunity. “We have been chasing this since 2009. We almost got it in 2010-11. It is a great news for Afghanistan and its cricket fans,” Stanikzai said.

Stanikzai said that the increase in funds will help them better the facilities. “We are providing training to our coaches and umpires so that we can make our grass root stronger. The increase in fund will help better our facilities.” he added.

The veteran administrator, who has been been associated with ACB since 2003, said it is a significant step for a country that is an emerging cricket nation.

“Cricket is huge in the country. In fact cricketers have become known commodities and are chased for autographs. The promotion will certainly help us in a huge way. We can host some Associate nations and play more games. Since T20 is big in our country, we would like to work on our first class structure. Our next target is to be a Test playing nation as soon as possible,” said Stanikzai.

Indian professional coach Umesh Patwal, who was a batting consultant for the Afghanistan side in 2010 said it is a big step for the nation that is cricket crazy.

“They are passionate about the game. They have some of the best talents and play fearless cricket. The increase in funds will help players become professional and will give an opportunity for the board to improve facilities,” said Patwal, who has done Level III coaching from Australia. Patwal believes Afghanistan should get more support from its neighbours. “Thoug, they are getting help from neighbours but they need more support. India, too, should help them improve . They should get the opportunity to play in India and other countries,” he added.