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'Historic day for Afghanistan'
War-torn nation's cricketers qualify for Twenty20 World Cup: 'So happy I cannot put it into words'
Juan Gonzalez
Special to the Star
Afghan bowler Shahpoor Zadran goes to work against the U.S. during the Twenty20 qualifier. The Afghans won the match, and the tournament. (Feb. 11, 2010)
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESThe world's elite cricketing nations will be converging on the sun-kissed islands of the Caribbean in late April for the start of the world Twenty20 championship an upstart event that has become one of the venerable game's biggest global attractions.
Ricky Ponting's Australia will be there, alongside Graeme Smith's South Africa, M.S. Dhoni's India, Nowroz Mangal's Afghanistan, Daniel Vettori's New Zealand and the rest of the superpowers of international cricket.
Yes, Nowroz Mangal's Afghanistan.
The team representing one of the most war-torn, unstable, poverty-stricken and downright dangerous countries on the planet confirmed their growing stature in the cricket world Saturday by beating the United Arab Emirates by four wickets but with only three balls to spare, in a nail-biting showdown for a coveted ticket to the West Indies.
The victory in the Super Four stage of the Twenty20 qualifying tournament was, by far, the biggest day in the cricketing lives of the Afghan players. Most of them fell in love with the game when they were growing up in refugee camps in Pakistan after their families had fled first the Soviet invasion of their country, then the brutal Taliban regime that followed.
As those families gradually returned to their troubled homeland, they brought cricket with them.
Saturday's victory over the U.A.E. was celebrated by something like 3,000 Afghan supporters (most of them living and working in the U.A.E.) in the lavish Dubai Sport City. The venue could not have been further removed from the team's usual spartan surroundings, the only cricket pitch in the Afghan capital of Kabul, where "conditions are not brilliant and the security level is a concern," said team coach Kabir Khan, a former Pakistan Test player.
Afghan players and officials were ecstatic over the victory, which came two days after another significant win a 29-run thrashing of the United States team, an encounter both sides went to considerable lengths to emphasize was "just a cricket match."
``These are the best moments of my life," said Taj Malik Khan, the assistant coach of Afghanistan. "We had an ultimate aim, to go to the (Twenty20) World Cup. We are thankful to Allah for giving us this opportunity. I am so happy, I cannot put it into words. This is a historic day for Afghanistan. We are the people who have made history. We have achieved something that nobody can believe."
Afghan batsman Raees Ahmadzai, who was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, was equally jubilant about the result and about its impact on his country.
``It is our mission to show the world that we are decent people, that we want to do good for the world," he said.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai is one of the team's biggest supporters.
However, as head coach Khan revealed recently, the leader's grasp of the game is still rudimentary.
``He asked me to explain the BMW rule," said Khan. ``I said that the first thing he needed to know was that it was called LBW (leg before wicket)."
Afghanistan's most memorable cricketing day drew to a fitting conclusion at night, when they took to the field again to meet the powerful Ireland team who will also be going to the Caribbean in the tournament final.
The Afghans won by a whopping eight wickets with 15 balls to spare.
'Historic day for Afghanistan' - thestar.com
War-torn nation's cricketers qualify for Twenty20 World Cup: 'So happy I cannot put it into words'
Juan Gonzalez
Special to the Star
Afghan bowler Shahpoor Zadran goes to work against the U.S. during the Twenty20 qualifier. The Afghans won the match, and the tournament. (Feb. 11, 2010)
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESThe world's elite cricketing nations will be converging on the sun-kissed islands of the Caribbean in late April for the start of the world Twenty20 championship an upstart event that has become one of the venerable game's biggest global attractions.
Ricky Ponting's Australia will be there, alongside Graeme Smith's South Africa, M.S. Dhoni's India, Nowroz Mangal's Afghanistan, Daniel Vettori's New Zealand and the rest of the superpowers of international cricket.
Yes, Nowroz Mangal's Afghanistan.
The team representing one of the most war-torn, unstable, poverty-stricken and downright dangerous countries on the planet confirmed their growing stature in the cricket world Saturday by beating the United Arab Emirates by four wickets but with only three balls to spare, in a nail-biting showdown for a coveted ticket to the West Indies.
The victory in the Super Four stage of the Twenty20 qualifying tournament was, by far, the biggest day in the cricketing lives of the Afghan players. Most of them fell in love with the game when they were growing up in refugee camps in Pakistan after their families had fled first the Soviet invasion of their country, then the brutal Taliban regime that followed.
As those families gradually returned to their troubled homeland, they brought cricket with them.
Saturday's victory over the U.A.E. was celebrated by something like 3,000 Afghan supporters (most of them living and working in the U.A.E.) in the lavish Dubai Sport City. The venue could not have been further removed from the team's usual spartan surroundings, the only cricket pitch in the Afghan capital of Kabul, where "conditions are not brilliant and the security level is a concern," said team coach Kabir Khan, a former Pakistan Test player.
Afghan players and officials were ecstatic over the victory, which came two days after another significant win a 29-run thrashing of the United States team, an encounter both sides went to considerable lengths to emphasize was "just a cricket match."
``These are the best moments of my life," said Taj Malik Khan, the assistant coach of Afghanistan. "We had an ultimate aim, to go to the (Twenty20) World Cup. We are thankful to Allah for giving us this opportunity. I am so happy, I cannot put it into words. This is a historic day for Afghanistan. We are the people who have made history. We have achieved something that nobody can believe."
Afghan batsman Raees Ahmadzai, who was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, was equally jubilant about the result and about its impact on his country.
``It is our mission to show the world that we are decent people, that we want to do good for the world," he said.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai is one of the team's biggest supporters.
However, as head coach Khan revealed recently, the leader's grasp of the game is still rudimentary.
``He asked me to explain the BMW rule," said Khan. ``I said that the first thing he needed to know was that it was called LBW (leg before wicket)."
Afghanistan's most memorable cricketing day drew to a fitting conclusion at night, when they took to the field again to meet the powerful Ireland team who will also be going to the Caribbean in the tournament final.
The Afghans won by a whopping eight wickets with 15 balls to spare.
'Historic day for Afghanistan' - thestar.com
