Afghanistan Cricket Success Deserves Plentiful Rewards

The rise of Afghan cricket is one of the most incredible sporting stories in recent memory. Since joining the ICC only fifteen years ago, their meteoric rise to One Day International status and multiple World Cup qualifications reached its latest denouement earlier today when they stunned the red-hot West Indies—who, admittedly, were not taking the match as seriously as in previous ones—beating them by six runs in the World Twenty20 Super 10.

An excellent 48 off 40 balls by Najibullah Zadran allowed the Afghans to reach a score of 123 which, given the supposed gulf between the two teams, was most respectable. The West Indies, minus talisman Chris Gayle, were expected to chase the total down easily, but nevertheless Zadran’s innings was a perfect end to what had already been a fantastic tournament for the South Asian side.

A stunning showing in the group stages saw Afghanistan beat Scotland and Hong Kong with ease. Mohammad Shahzad was the star of the show on both occasions, scoring 61 and 41 respectively, and Mohammad Nabi’s stunning 4-20 against Hong Kong was another highlight.

They secured qualification to the Super 10 stage by thrashing Zimbabwe, one of the ten Test nations and supposedly one of cricket’s elite, scoring 186-6 in their 20 overs and bowling out their opposition for 127. Shahzad once again batted well for his 40 off 23 balls, and Samiullah Shenwari’s 43 off 37 anchored the innings, but it was Mohammad Nabi’s 52 off 32 which deserves to go down in history as one of the great Afghan innings to date.

Those three wins, coupled with impressive batting performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, as well as a narrow defeat against England which they could so easily have won had they kept the momentum when England were just 85-7, meant that a respectable loss against the West Indies would allow them to bow out of the tournament with great hopes for the future.

However, they bowed out of the tournament more than respectable losers. In the seventh over, the West Indies found themselves 38-3. A strong partnership between Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin allowed them to recover to 79-3, but when the latter was stumped by Shahzad off Rashid Khan’s bowling, the minnows seized their chance and restricted the Windies to 117-8 to claim a famous win by six runs.

The Afghan bowlers, spearheaded by four spinners, all bowled with some quality; Amir Hamza’s 1-9 off four overs perhaps the most impressive performance of all. Having shown their batting prowess throughout the group stages and Super 10, they showed that they are ready to compete with the world’s best.

However, they may not get too many opportunities to play against the best teams in the world in future. The ICC’s decision to restrict the 2019 World Cup to just ten teams will make it very difficult for them to qualify. Despite the outrage at this settlement, it looks like the World Cup will become a more exclusive tournament, which will be much the detriment of the associate nations.

Much like with Argentina in Rugby Union, the best way for the smaller teams to improve is for them to play against the bigger teams regularly. Certainly, when India, Australia, England, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies play against the likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, Hong Kong and Nepal, there will be walkovers which are not particularly entertaining. But there will be matches, just like today, where the associates find themselves in winning positions and either capitalise or narrowly lose out. Both of these situations would be learning curves for the minnows.

The ICC should be doing all in their power to help the emerging cricketing nations. Test teams touring the subcontinent should play warm-up matches against Afghanistan—perhaps a four-day match or a few ODIs and T20s—and when teams come to England, Ireland should be given the chance to make a name for themselves before the real Test matches start. Even the smaller associates should be able to play the elite teams on occasion.

Certainly, making it harder to qualify for the World Cup is not of any use. This means that Afghanistan will hardly play against the best teams in the world at all. The “Big Three” of India, Australia and England must make a stand and help to increase cricket’s brand across the world by making more countries competitive. It is a romantic command which is unlikely to be carried out, but it is the least they can do for nations who could be the future of the sport.

Not only are nations like Afghanistan good for the sport; the sport is good for Afghanistan. Though the US war officially ended in 2014, the country is still in chaos and their cricket success has been a rare moment of inspiration for its people. Though sport in itself is an insignificant pastime, it has been able to influence history both for better and for worse. Cricket has a chance to do good in one of the least developed countries in the world.