Kamal Ghorui
CHENNAI: On the eve of their T20 World Cup campaign opener against New Zealand, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan said his biggest dream is to see international cricket being played on Afghan soil.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“To play international cricket back home is bigger than the World Cup. For me, for the team, and for every individual, that’s something more than a dream,” Rashid had said.
And for the Afghan fans who travel with the team whenever they can, it will be a moment that they have cherished all their lives. On Sunday morning here, when TOI caught up with a few passionate Afghan fans from Kabul at the MA Chidambaram Stadium gallery, they spoke about the dream that they share with their skipper. Draped in either their national attire or Afghan team jersey, they never lost their voices even though New Zealand closed in on the chase of 183.“Inshallah, ek din (one day)…It will be really great. It’s a massive dream for every cricket fan back home. We want to host India for our first international match in Afghanistan because India and we are like brothers. It’s our second favourite team in the World Cup,” Jawad Ahmadi, one of the young Afghan fans, said.Afghanistan as a country has endured a lot. But their undying love for cricket is something that helps them deal with the difficulties of life. And now, with every passing day, the Afghanistan team is looking a stronger unit — their run to the semifinals of the last T20 World Cup being a case in point. “The sport back home is growing day by day. But it will take quite some time to reach the level of India. But let me tell you, we are as crazy about cricket as you guys are. We know how to celebrate, you can take a cue from us,” Ahmadi said with a smile. “But yes, overall, small steps are being taken to develop the sport and we hope to be a big and strong team in the future.”While Rashid is the current face of Afghan cricket, former skipper Mohammad Nabi is widely regarded as its torchbearer. For the fans, it’s a healthy debate, ‘who means more for Afghan cricket’?“Rashid is our hero. Back home, everyone loves Rashid Khan and the way he keeps taking the Afghanistan flag higher in cricket is great. He has helped improve facilities and has inspired so many youngsters to take up the sport, which is just wonderful,” said Jawad.His friend Abdul, a club-level cricketer, had a different view. “I took up cricket because of Nabi. Nabi is the real hero for us; he has been there from the beginning, so we admire him a lot. The way Nabi and his generation started out without many facilities and still kept going…that’s just amazing.”
