Rise of cricket in Afganistan: a new dawn?

When we think about Afghanistan, the only thing which comes in our mind is about the war prone area, sounds of gunshots, thousands of dead bodies and inhuman activities of Taliban. Afghanistan has always been in the news for wrong reasons. The Taliban's insurgency against Western forces, the only focus of international media coverage in Afghanistan .But it is true that cricket can unified the whole nation, thanks to this gentlemen’s game the war-torn nation has grabbed eyeballs not only in the international media, but also in the masses. Good news stories from Afghanistan are rare, but one of them is the National cricket team's remarkable rise to the sport's top table, which is the subject of a new documentary. Afghanistan's cricket team has inspired Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to help produce a documentary -- 'Out of the Ashes'.

In Afghanistan, cricket barely used to exist, but it is now getting more popular.Afghanistan's cricket team defied all odds to qualify for last month's Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies where it crashed out in the preliminary stage. The country still doesn't have a decent cricket grounds where the players can practice or sharpen their skills. Ironically, it was conflict in Afghanistan that first turned many of the players to cricket. Forced to flee their country during the Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war, they settled as refugees in cricket-crazy Pakistan, where they learned the arts of bowling, batting and fielding.The sweet sound of a cricket willow is hard to hear in Afghanistan than the sound of gunfire, as the country wracked by more than three decades of war. In fact, the national obsession with the sport is so strong that the Taliban did not outlaw it as they did kite flying. Still the afghan team is fighting their own battle like exclusion from Asia Cup 2010. About a year-and-a-half ago, Afghanis built a cricket stadium in Kabul, nestled between the city's soccer stadium, which was an infamous Taliban execution site. But still they are far behind in terms of international class infrastructure. But after facing so many different obstacles, the Afghan players say just reaching the prestigious tournament is a victory.

Good to see Afghan boys on the field and I want to see them more but there is a big policy problem with the ICC (the governing body of the game). Till they don't play the full members of division 5 they will have almost no chance to improve their game on higher level. For example Afghanistan got 2 games this t20 WC. Now they have to wait 2 years to qualify again for the t20 WC to get some games, the same for ODI once in 4 years. I think ICC should shuffle a little bit with their policies and send at least 4 full members with low ranking to the qualifying rounds of WC. This will give more games to associate teams to improve their level. Otherwise I think, such motivated teams as Afghanistan, will be also left to become as the likes of Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands etc. The more they play the more they learn and can adapt. Afghanistan was so absorbing and if they play these teams more, they can be really very competitive.

By: Kriti Sharma