Afghanistan national cricket team

The Afghanistan men's national cricket team (Pashto: د افغانستان کرکټ ملي لوب‌‌‌‌‌‌ډله, Urdu: ٹیم افغانستان کریکیٹ ناہcode: urd promoted to code: ur ) represents Afghanistan in international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council with Test, One-Day International and T20 International status.

Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid-19th century, but it was only in the early 21st century that the national team began to enjoy success. The Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed in 1995, becoming an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001 and a member of the cricket confederation, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003. After nearly a decade of playing international cricket, on 22 June 2017 full ICC membership (and therefore Test status) was granted to Afghanistan. Alongside Ireland, this took the number of Test cricket playing nations to twelve. In view of the persistent conflict and insecurity in Afghanistan, following this status, the team moved to a new home ground in Dehradun, in India. The current home ground of the Afghanistan Men's Cricket team is the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE.

Afghanistan cricket has become a symbol of hope and resilience for many. The sport has not only provided entertainment but has also united a nation that has faced numerous challenges. The Afghanistan team has made significant strides on the international stage, showcasing the talent and determination of its players.

History

Pre-ODI history

Cricket in Afghanistan was popularised by Afghan expatriates who learnt the sport while living in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s, during the post-Soviet invasion era. Most members of the early Afghanistan national cricket team grew up in Pakistan and participated in the country's domestic cricket structure, making use of cricket facilities in Peshawar with the support of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). It was during this time that the Afghanistan Cricket Federation (now ACB) was also founded, in 1995. Like all sports, cricket was initially banned by the Taliban, but cricket became an exception in 2000 (being the only sport in Afghanistan to be approved by the Taliban). The ACF received recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001.

Afghanistan fielded their cricket team in Pakistan's domestic setup for the first time in the 2001–02 season, participating in the second division of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy where they drew two and lost three of their five games. They returned for the Cornelius Trophy in the 2002–03 season, drawing one and losing three matches. In the 2003–04 season, they made an appearance in the PCB's inter-district tournament in Peshawar, where they registered their lone victory against Swabi, drew twice and lost two matches.

They began playing in Asian regional tournaments in 2004, finishing sixth in their first ACC Trophy. More success began in 2006 when they were runners-up to Bahrain in the Middle East Cup and beat an MCC team featuring former England captain Mike Gatting by 171 runs in Mumbai. Gatting was dismissed for a duck.

They toured England in the summer of 2006, winning six out of seven matches. Three of their wins came against the second XIs of Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire. They finished third in the ACC Trophy that year, beating Nepal in a play-off match.

They won their first tournament in 2007, sharing the ACC Twenty20 Cup with Oman after the two tied in the final. They began their qualifying campaign for the 2011 World Cup in Jersey in 2008, winning Division Five of the World Cricket League. They finished third in the ACC Trophy Elite tournament the same year, and won a second consecutive WCL tournament, Division Four in Tanzania later in the year.

The Afghanistan national team was coached by former Pakistani cricketers Kabir Khan and Rashid Latif in its initial years. During this period, a number of Afghan international cricketers made appearances for Pakistani domestic outfits in the first-class circuit.

In January 2009, Afghanistan progressed to the 2009 World Cup Qualifier by winning Division Three of the World Cricket League in Buenos Aires, topping the table on net run rate ahead of Uganda and Papua New Guinea.

In 2010, Afghanistan competed at the Asian Games, a non-ICC T20 event hosted by China, where they defeated a second-string Pakistan team by 22 runs in the semi-finals in what was considered an upset. In May 2011, the Afghan team embarked on a tour of Pakistan to partake in a three-match limited overs series against Pakistan A, where they were whitewashed by the home team 3–0. They followed this up with another tour in September to participate in Pakistan's domestic National T20 Cup in Karachi as the Afghan Cheetahs, but had another poor outing, losing all three of their matches.

ODI status

In the 2011 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament, Afghanistan failed to progress to the World Cup, but earned ODI status for four years. Their first ODI was against Scotland in the 5th place playoff, having previously beaten the Scots earlier in the tournament; Afghanistan won by 89 runs. Afghanistan became the only affiliate member to have ODI status.

In the Intercontinental Cup Afghanistan played its first first-class match against a Zimbabwe XI in a four-day match in Mutare. During the match, which was drawn, Afghan batsman Noor Ali scored centuries in both his innings, making him only the fourth player to do so on their first-class debut. Later, in August 2009, they played the Netherlands in the same competition at the VRA Cricket Ground, winning a low-scoring match by one wicket.

Afghanistan then took part in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan was drawn in Group A, which Afghanistan topped at the end of the group stages by winning all five of their matches. In the semi-finals the Afghans defeated Kuwait by 8 wickets. In the final they met the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, whom they defeated by 84 runs.

On 1 February 2010, Afghanistan played their first Twenty20 International against Ireland, which they lost by 5 wickets. On 13 February 2010, Afghanistan defeated the United Arab Emirates by 4 wickets to make their way to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 to be in the West Indies in April 2010. Later the same day, they defeated Ireland by 8 wickets in the Final of 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier to win the qualifier. Afghanistan were in Group C of the main tournament, with India and South Africa. During their first match against India, opening batsman Noor Ali hit 50 runs, helping Afghanistan to a score of 115 in their 20 overs. Despite this they lost the match by 8 wickets. In their second match, the team were reduced to 14/6 at one stage, before a late rally from Mirwais Ashraf and Hamid Hassan helped Afghanistan post 88 all out, resulting in a loss by 59 runs.

The team's Intercontinental Cup campaign continued in 2010, with wins over Ireland, Canada, Scotland and Kenya before they beat Scotland by 7 wickets in the final in Dubai. Also in 2010, they won the ACC Trophy Elite tournament in Kuwait, beating Nepal in the final and finished third in Division One of the World Cricket League in the Netherlands. They took part in the cricket tournament at the 2010 Asian Games in China and won the silver medal, losing to Bangladesh in the final.

In 2011, Afghanistan begun the 2011-13 ICC World Cricket League Championship. They beat Canada and drew with the UAE. In the parallel one-day league, they won two matches against Canada and lost twice to the UAE. In December once again took part in the ACC Twenty20 Cup, this time in Nepal. They went on to win all of their matches to once again take the Cup.

On 10 February 2012, Afghanistan played a one-off One Day International (ODI) match against Pakistan at Sharjah, the first ever official game between the two teams and also the first ever ODI between an Affiliate and a Test-playing nation. Billed as a historic occasion for Afghan cricket, the game was won comfortably by Pakistan by seven wickets with 13 overs to spare. They also took on the Australia Cricket Team in an Only ODI at Sharjah in August 2012. They fell short in both matches, but their performance showed they were continuing to make progress. Their 2012 ICC International Cup games were also challenging, resulting in a split with the Netherlands and a loss to Ireland.

2013 brought greater success for Afghanistan. In March, they played two T20 Internationals against Scotland in UAE and prevailed in both matches. They also won two ODIs in the World Cricket League Championship against the same opponents.

In the WCL Championship table, as 2013 dawned Afghanistan was level with Scotland in third, trailing Ireland and the Netherlands for the two automatic qualification spots for the 2015 World Cup. However, two convincing wins in spring over Scotland boosted hopes some. Then in July the Netherlands failed to take any points against Ireland, leaving Afghanistan in a position to qualify if they could win their final four matches against poorer performing Namibia and Kenya. Despite the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands both being able to win their remaining games, keeping the pressure on Afghanistan, Afghanistan handled Namibia, then defeated Kenya by 8 wickets on 2 October. With one final win over Kenya on 4 October by 7 wickets, Afghanistan secured second in the Championship with 19 points, and qualified for World Cup.