The biggest tournament in Cricket has just begun, the Cricket World Cup, and through 5 games, significant history has already been achieved. Through these achievements, one team has surpassed the expectations set for them, rising as an underdog to make the knockout stages of the tournament. This team represents a country that has been through turmoil and war, where this sport remains one of the only bright spots in the nation. This country recently dethroned the current World Cup champions and defeated a long-time rival for the first time. This team is Afghanistan and it seems that they are ready to make their claim as a legit cricket-playing nation. 

The history of cricket in Afghanistan technically started with the British who played the sport when they occupied the country, but really took off when Afghan refugees in Pakistan returned to Afghanistan. The Taliban originally hampered this interest as they banned the sport, but they unbanned the sport in 2000 and from this point on Afghanistan’s story truly started. Cricket is relatively hard for countries with little history and funding in the sport, usually taking multiple decades to be considered a quality, competitive team. In 23 short years, Afghanistan has developed an amazing grassroots system leading to the discovery of many talents that make up their current team today. This combined with these talents playing in club cricket around the world has allowed them to also garner experience in the sport, something else that young cricketing nations struggle with.

This all led to this World Cup, where most expected Afghanistan to be last in the group stage. Even with star players, such as Rashid Khan, one of the greatest bowlers/pitchers of this generation, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, a promising batsman, Afghanistan was regarded as a weak team. Afghanistan also has other talents such as Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Nabi who are all great players. Knowing this, Afghanistan never really had a talent issue, their issue was playing well as a team and not crumbling under pressure. 

With this context, Afghanistan, shocked everyone by defeating England, the defending World Cup champions, which was a huge win for the country, despite it not being close. Afghanistan outclassed them in every aspect, batting, bowling, fielding, etc., and beat them in a convincing fashion. Despite this, like the Colorado Buffalos, many felt that this upset was a fluke, claiming that Afghanistan would not win another game in the World Cup. Little did they know then that against fierce rivals Pakistan, whom they have never won a game against in the past, they would repeat their performance against England. In fact, this performance was even more dominant, punishing Pakistan and leaving them stunned at this loss. Now Afghanistan is in a prime position to steal a semi-final spot and cement themselves in World Cup History. Will they do it, only time will tell… 

Source:

“Rare Public Joy in Kabul after Afghanistan’s World Cup Win over Pakistan.” ICC Cricket World Cup News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 24 Oct. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/24/rare-public-joy-in-kabul-after-afghanistans-world-cup-win-over-pakistan.