World Cup 2023: Afghanistan's dazzling run captivates cricket

Afghanistan had four impressive victories but lost to Australia on Tuesday

Afghanistan's dream run in the Cricket World Cup includes victories against former champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Tuesday's defeat to Australia may have dented their semi-final hopes, but the stunning campaign of players from a war-weary nation whose government nobody recognises has captured the cricketing world's attention and brought joy to fans.

At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, Afghanistan were poised to create another miracle.

The youthful team - 11 of their 15 players are under the age of 25 - playing only their third ODI World Cup, had Australia on the ropes. They had reduced the five-time world champions, chasing a target of 292, to a precarious 91-7.

But then the miracle changed hands. Braving cramps, Australia's swashbuckling batter Glenn Maxwell took his team to a stunning win with an unbeaten double hundred, a feat of fearless hitting and human endurance.

"Really disappointed. Cricket is a funny game, it was unbelievable," Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi told media after the match.

But it's Afghanistan's rise in one-day international cricket that has been more unbelievable for the team and their fans alike.

Before 2023, Afghanistan had secured only one victory across two World Cup tournaments after their qualification in 2015. Now they have won four, including one each against defending champions England and former winners Pakistan, where some of the Afghan players first encountered the game as refugees.

"Their progress has been sensational. What Afghanistan has done in 25 years, climbing from the bottom of the qualifying leagues to almost making it to the semis of a World Cup, other teams take 60-70 years," Sidharth Monga, a senior cricket writer at ESPNcricinfo, told the BBC.

Ibrahim Zadran became the first Afghan to score a World Cup century

The team is operating in highly unusual circumstances - the flag they play under and the anthem they sing are of the former Afghan republic, which fell after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

But the Taliban government now in power recognises the team and the Afghanistan Cricket Board gives credit to them too.

"They [the Taliban] give us a free hand. Last year when we were facing financial difficulties, they gave us $1.2m [£977,514]," Naseeb Khan, CEO of the board, told the BBC.

Despite the challenges, Afghanistan have made miracles happen at the World Cup. Like on Tuesday when 21-year-old Ibrahim Zadran became the first Afghan to score a World Cup century, hours after a pep talk from Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar. Or when they pulled off a major upset by defeating England early in the tournament.

The team's fairy-tale run proves they are not underdogs or just lucky; they can beat any country on a good day, says Raees Ahmadzai, a former Afghanistan captain who is now the team's assistant coach.

"The way Afghans love the sport is almost divine and it's that love which guides us," he told the BBC.

Monga says that since the team was formed in 2001, Afghanistan have had an impressive bowling line-up which can restrict the opposition at different phases. But the biggest improvement has been their batting.

Afghanistan's batters have displayed composure and maturity. They have built their innings slowly and calmly chased targets.

Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi led his team to a major victory against Pakistan

Consider the match against Pakistan when Afghanistan were chasing a decent score of 282 against a formidable bowling attack. After an explosive start, Shahidi played sedately through the middle of the innings, making sure to keep up with the run-rate without taking unnecessary risks. Afghanistan won by eight wickets.

"The beauty right now is that you can't pick out three or four big stars, it's a team where everyone is contributing. And their wins have not come as a shock. They have smoothly chased down totals," Monga says.

The improvement comes from decades of hard work, aided by a growing domestic cricket structure and increasing international exposure.

Afghanistan has thousands of cricket clubs spread across 34 provinces which select talent at various levels, starting from school to T20 leagues. Domestic matches are played in five stadiums in Kabul, Jalalabad and Khost and some 15 smaller cricket grounds. The most popular domestic league is the Shpageeza ('six runs') - an eight-team game played in Kabul which draws huge crowds.

Half-a-dozen Afghan cricketers play in international T20 leagues along with smaller international tournaments in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Caribbean.

Naseeb Khan of the Afghanistan Cricket Board says the team has benefited massively from thriving cricketing facilities in their own country.

Unlike earlier, when the cricketers mostly lived and trained in India and Dubai, he says they now reside at home and train at "high-quality" facilities. "Every international player has to participate in our domestic events when they have no international commitments."

Cricket is hugely popular in Afghanistan

Ahmadzai adds that a lot of fresh, young talent comes through a network of club cricket.

So someone like Noor Ahmad, the youngest player at the World Cup at 18 years, plays alongside 38-year-old star Mohammad Nabi.

The team's ascent is also a sign of how far Afghanistan have come as a cricket-loving nation, Ahmadzai says.

"We learned cricket in exile, with nothing but a twinkling of hope on our side. But this generation is a product of Afghanistan. We trained them there."

Unlike India and Pakistan, cricket's popularity in Afghanistan is more recent. Its earliest players learned the game as refugees in Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

When they returned home, they brought the game with them but it wasn't easy. The team has weathered years of war, bomb blasts and abductions of loved ones as they played.

"The fear never left us. Just like life itself, the game's future hung in the balance," Ahmadzai says.

Even in the 1990s, when the Taliban first came to power, they did not stop men from playing cricket - cricketers were seen to be "more modestly dressed" compared with other athletes, Monga says.

Fast forward to now when the players have become celebrities at home, their posters on billboards and their on-field skills etched in the minds of young Afghans, including Ahmadzai's son who dreams of bowling like star leg-spinner Rashid Khan one day.

Afghan fans say the team's performance has given them a reason to dream again

The feeling is even more special for thousands of Afghans in India for whom the team's performance is a rare source of happiness amid worries about the future.

"When there is cricket, there is hope, even for a weary nation like ours," says Farshid Mohammad, who moved to India three years ago.

Unlike Mohammad, who didn't know what cricket was while growing up, his 16-year-old son already knows everything about the game.

"When it comes to Afghanistan, my children only know about the doom and gloom there. The World Cup is our ray of hope," Mohammad says.

It's hard to say what comes next for the team. Ideally, they want to play more bilateral tournaments, but Monga says many boards might not want to play against Afghanistan because they don't have a women's team or structures to promote the sport among women.

The suppression of women's rights under Taliban rule is the harshest in the world. The country's female cricket team fled abroad to safety and exile in Australia.

"But one thing's for sure, cricket in Afghanistan has got the right ingredients. There's a young population with a passion for cricket and there's a life to be made out of the game," Monga says.

Following Tuesday's match, Afghanistan are sixth in the World Cup, with eight points from as many games. They have one match left against South Africa on Friday.

"I am proud of the team... We will try our best to come out stronger against South Africa," captain Shahidi has said.

Clearly, Afghanistan is hoping for another miracle - but South Africa know they will need to be careful. The underdogs have proved so far that almost anything is possible.