by Tim Wigmore
Throughout Afghanistan’s nascent years, they faced a perpetual worry over where they could find halal cuisine – or even just roti and naan. At the World Cricket League Division Three tournament, held in Argentina in January 2009, the all-rounder Hasti Gul took over the hotel kitchen to prepare traditional karai for the entire squad because they were missing home so much.
The cricket provided another worry. After losing to Uganda in their first match, Afghanistan won their next three games. But they had to win a fourth consecutive game, against the lowly Cayman Islands, to progress. Afghanistan chose a bad time for their batting to implode: they reached just 68/5 from 31 overs and, after rain adjusted their target, the Cayman Islands only needed 63 from 20 overs to win.
They were cruising on 35/2 when Afghanistan were reprieved by the rain, which forced the players off and kept their World Cup dream alive. ‘I have seen people die and I have not shed a tear,’ Hassan said after the game against the Cayman Islands. ‘But there is something about cricket that gets me here [pointing to his heart]. Cricket is our chance.’
Kabir said, ‘I nearly had another heart attack. I think I need to say thank you to God as he has been very kind to us today. We needed it to rain and it did.’
Rather unfairly, the game was replayed from scratch the following day. Afghanistan won and, with a little help from the weather, they reached the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in April 2009. After making it past the first round, Afghanistan qualified for the Super 8 stage, which would determine which four qualifiers made the World Cup.
A match against Ireland, the associate cricket powerhouse, loomed ominously. Afghanistan posted a respectable 218/7 but, despite a jittery start, Ireland were cruising on 186/5. They needed 33 from 33 balls: a facile task for a side that had defeated Bangladesh and Pakistan in the last World Cup.
That was reckoning without Hassan. Armed with his trademark blue headband, he decimated Ireland’s tail: their last five wickets fell for ten runs. Four of those fell to Hassan, who ended with 5-23 including four batsmen clean bowled. Ireland had no riposte to his whippy action and 90mph late-swinging yorkers.
It heralded the start of one of the most captivating rivalries in the world game: the orthodoxy of Ireland, the best-drilled and most efficient side beyond the Test world, against Afghanistan’s audacity and irascible aggression.
‘Both teams have that same fighting spirit. We’ve had a few contests that have teetered on the edge but we know what’s at stake,’ Ireland captain William Porterfield reflected. ‘They are a fantastic team with the cricketers to put in big performances.’
Associate sides have been accused of lacking ambition, but it is not a claim that anyone could make against Afghanistan or Ireland.
Despite Hassan’s intervention against Ireland, Afghanistan’s fairytale thudded into reality. Afghanistan earned ODI status – and with it the extra funding necessary to implement a proper cricketing structure in the country. But sport is about glory and Afghanistan didn’t make the World Cup: they lost to Kenya, Netherlands, UAE and Canada in South Africa. As Afghanistan’s hopes of making the World Cup were ended by Canada, Taj was at home, following the game on a creaky internet stream.
Taj would soon return as assistant coach to Kabir. His profuse enthusiasm complemented Kabir’s more cerebral virtues. After the disappointment of missing out on the 2011 World Cup, Afghanistan still had the chance to qualify for the 2010 World Twenty20.
One of their group games in the World Twenty20 qualifiers was against the United States. It was a rare occasion when a game between non-Test teams attracted the cricketing world’s attention. And it was an instance when cricket did not provide Afghanistan with escapism, but a reminder of the devastating situation in the country.
On 27 August 2008, American forces raided the home of a former player, Rahmat Wali, after receiving a tip-off, and shot him dead at the age of 28. Wali was suspected of being an IED facilitator – someone who enables people to build improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs. Taj Malik, for one, does not believe that. Taj described him as ‘a very good guy, a very simple guy. In 2000 we had a match in Peshawar stadium, he hit the biggest six ever which I saw. When I heard that he died I was very sad.’
Afghanistan easily defeated the United States, who could not handle Hassan. After yorking one player, Hassan leapt to the floor, extending his arms and legs as he gloried on the wreckage he had made of the American’s stumps. The side dedicated the win to the memory of their former player Wali. The victory led to the team receiving a message of congratulations from the Taliban, recognising its potential psychological value in their own fight against America.
The win also helped Afghanistan secure one of the two places for non-Test sides in the World Twenty20, effectively the World Cup in the shortest format of the game. It was the first time that the country had reached an international finals event in any sport. That Afghanistan won the qualifiers – they twice beat Ireland in the tournament, including in the final – at the start of 2010 was a sign of how far they had come in under a year.
They were also proving that it wasn’t just the shortest format in which they could excel. Afghanistan also won the four-day Intercontinental Cup in 2010. Had the 2011 World Cup qualifiers taken place in the year preceding the tournament, Afghanistan would surely have made it. Still, the World Twenty20 was a significant prize.
‘It just went crazy after that,’ Kabir reflected. ‘You could see the tears in the boys’ eyes and obviously, the emotions and the emotions in the country. It was just like winning a World Cup, really, not only qualifying for the World Cup.’
Afghanistan found themselves in a group with India and South Africa: they could scarcely have received a less auspicious draw. ‘I am a big fan of American television and movies and my favourite film is Rocky – I vividly remember watching it when I was growing up – and one of my heroes is Sylvester Stallone,’ he wrote on his ESPNCricinfo blog after the victory over the United States in the qualifier.
‘I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team – we both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up.’
Though both matches were lost, like Rocky fighting against the world champion, Hassan would not be overawed: he took 3-21 against South Africa, dismissing Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and JP Duminy. Hassan and his side would be back at the World Twenty20s in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, they gave India a mighty fright: Afghanistan needed 44 from the last four overs, with four wickets in hand and Nabi going well before they collapsed.
By this point, Taj’s cricket career was already over. ‘There is no justice,’ he lamented when I asked about the end of his time with Afghanistan cricket. Like cricketers across the world, Taj blamed greedy administrators, saying that they were clinging on to money that the players earned for qualifying for the 2010 World Twenty20. The Afghan Cricket Board softened their stance and gave the players some of the winnings, but Taj said that the players did not make him aware of this. He resigned, though he briefly resurfaced as Afghanistan A’s coach after changes in the board. That stint only lasted for a few months.
He now lives a spiritual life of Tableegh – the same devout Islamic existence that permeated the Pakistan side under the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq. Taj only follows Afghan cricket from a distance, but he still keeps in touch with some of the players – including Nabi, the skipper.
‘I worked for seven, eight years with these players when we had no facilities, no money. Now some of the senior players want to have a relationship and come and talk with me. I’m not the kind of person to have bad behaviour with them.’
In 2014, Nabi described Taj as ‘a great man’, saying ‘I meet him from time to time when I go back to Afghanistan. We don’t talk about cricket.’
Taj’s departure would not be the only time that the Afghan side was afflicted by boardroom disputes. His successor as coach, Kabir Khan, resigned later in 2010, citing interference in team selection and
planning. ‘Everybody in Afghanistan wanted their son or nephew or whoever to play, because there’s a lot of fame in it, and obviously money involved in it. So every politician, every donor, or anybody who had a bit of power, they were trying to influence the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The officials of the cricket board couldn’t bear that pressure.’
No shortage of people wanted to latch on to the success of the side; a stable, well-run cricket team is a challenge anywhere, let alone in a country with Afghanistan’s wider challenges.
Kabir was persuaded to return from the more comfortable surroundings of the UAE at the start of 2012 after receiving assurances that he would be able to get on with his job in peace.
‘The team was doing really badly after I left and there was no one interested in joining them. I was coaching UAE and the team was doing very well, but I knew anyone would join the UAE but no one would be interested in Afghanistan at that point.’
As UAE coach, Kabir had masterminded two victories over Afghanistan in World Cup qualifiers in late 2011, and so endangered the goal of taking Afghanistan to the World Cup for which he had worked so hard.
His return as coach, which lasted until he resigned for personal reasons in September 2014, had the desired effect. In 2013 Afghanistan needed to win each of their last six games in the World Cricket League Championship – two each against Scotland, Namibia and Kenya – to be assured of a World Cup berth. By October, that was down to two.
Afghanistan could have been forgiven for being overcome with nerves. Kabir ensured that they were not. They bowled Kenya out for 89 and 93 en route to two emphatic wins. Hassan proved irresistible, taking 6-30 across the two games to underscore his status as – back issues permitting – the most exhilarating fast bowling sight beyond the Test world.
‘He is indisputably the fastest in the associate cricket world. One of those who could bowl 90mph when he was in a good rhythm – he was truly a fighter,’ Kabir said. ‘If he’s 50 per cent fit, he’ll still be hungry to play.’
On 4 October Afghanistan qualified for the World Cup: vindication for the side’s newfound professionalism, as well as its resolve.
It was far removed from Jersey in 2008. Yet there was continuity in the journey: six of those who had played in the victory over Jersey were in the final 11 that secured Afghanistan’s place at the 2015 World Cup, including the captain, Mohammad Nabi.
A few months earlier, World Cup qualification would have been far from Nabi’s mind. This owed nothing to events on the field, but to the kidnapping of his father. In May 2013, Nabi’s father, a wealthy car salesman, was abducted from his car in the city of Jalalabad. For more than two months, his father’s whereabouts were unknown, despite a concerted effort by the government to find him. ‘It was quite a difficult time,’ Nabi said. ‘It was very hard to find my dad.’
At the start of August, Nabi and his team faced two crucial World Cup qualifying matches in Namibia. He decided that he could not miss the tour. ‘My brother said, “It’s not your issue – inshallah when you reach Namibia we will have good news.” When I reached Namibia after three days my brother called and said, “Your father is found by the government.” I was very happy.’
Nabi celebrated by playing the match of his life. He smashed 81 not out from 45 balls, showing the audacity, clean timing and effortless power evident when he played for MCC Young Cricketers seven years earlier. He then made sure of victory by taking 5-12 with his crafty off spin.
Two months later, Nabi’s smash through midwicket against Kenya secured Afghanistan’s place at the World Cup. The moment was celebrated by a jubilant, intensely partisan crowd, and their chants of ‘Afghanistan, zindabad!’ The entire Afghan team ran from the dressing room to hoist Nabi into the air. ‘I was very proud of myself.’
It felt like a home crowd, but it was not: Afghanistan were playing their ‘home’ game at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. No country has ever agreed to tour Afghanistan, so they have made the UAE their home. The Afghan contingent has been rather more raucous than many home crowds, cheering their side relentlessly and bringing in everything from Afghan tricolours to air-horns to bagpipes to add to the atmosphere.
Back when Afghanistan played Ireland in the final of the World Twenty20 qualifiers in 2010, the ICC only allocated an area with 3,000 seats, thinking that would be enough to satisfy demand for the fixture. Around 10,000 supporters came and the area they were supposed to be in became so overcrowded that they started scaling the fence at the front of the stand, where there was a 40-foot drop to the lower tier. The ICC had to enlist Taj to speak on the tannoy in Pashtu to make sure none of them invaded again. No one moved after he had spoken.
To prevent a repeat, Afghanistan’s final World Cricket League game against Kenya in October 2013 was the first time that the ICC had charged supporters to attend a game in the UAE not involving Test sides. Five Afghan parliamentarians were among around 5,000 in attendance. Then-president Hamid Karzai (one of the president’s functions is to act as patron of the Afghan Cricket Board) was glued to his TV.
As stirring as qualification for the World Cup was, having a women’s team free to compete on the international stage would be more remarkable.
Even among Afghan cricket fans, few people know of Diana Barakzai. She is the pioneer of women’s cricket in the country or, more accurately, the would-be pioneer. However great the obstacles that the men’s side has had to overcome, they are nothing compared with those faced by Afghanistan’s fledgling women’s team.
Diana and her three sisters, who are all keen players and ICC-qualified coaches, learned to play as refugees in Pakistan having fled from the Taliban.
Since returning to Kabul in 2009 they have tried to encourage other women to take up cricket. Diana said that her father and brother ‘have always been supportive to us, always teaching us about cricket’. Their father converted a plot of land from his old house in Kabul into a cricket pitch that has provided women with somewhere to play.
The Afghan women’s national team was formed in 2010, with lofty ambitions to emulate the success of the men’s team. It has not worked out like that. The women’s side has still yet to play an official match with ‘political reasons’ cited by the Afghan Cricket Board. Players have been likened to prostitutes, while practice matches have been disrupted by mullahs bellowing from the sidelines. The charity Afghan Connection, the driving force behind women’s cricket in Afghanistan, now endeavours to play behind walls in order to protect the girls.
An annual tournament is held between girls’ schools in Kabul, but the sport continues to be stifled by Afghanistan’s attitude to women. Outside the more affluent and progressive members of the society – who tend to live in cities like Kabul – it is still anathema for women to be seen in public by themselves. ‘Playing cricket for a girl was not less than suicide,’ Diana said of her experiences. She has now lost her role, with Dr Muhammad citing ‘poor performance for three years and for not having an educational degree’ as the factors.
Women’s cricket must respect ‘Islamic values and the values of traditional Afghanistan’ to grow, Dr Muhammad reflected. It is now hoped that the women’s side may appear in the Asian Challenge Cup in 2015, but plans for official matches have been abandoned copious times in the past.
Taj doubted whether women’s cricket could ever gain acceptance. ‘It’s very difficult because Afghanistan is a Muslim country and Islam does not allow women and girls to participate in the game especially in an area like Afghanistan. Even they cannot move without Islamic rules to walk from home. So how can they play?’ He said that female cricketers in Kabul ‘didn’t know anything about the game’.
Just as the Taliban’s support has been crucial in the success of the men’s side, it has stymied women’s cricket.
Afghanistan have already proved that World Cup qualification need not be the summit of their cricketing achievements. In February 2014 they defeated Bangladesh away in the Asia Cup. A few months later, they drew an ODI series 2-2 in
Zimbabwe, including winning the last game by 100 runs.
Off the pitch, Afghan cricket has developed an increasingly professional operation. Even the phone line to the Afghan Cricket Board has become less capricious. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Ministry of Education to establish cricket as a compulsory part of the national curriculum. A diverse array of donors, including UNICEF, the Swedish Committee and USAID, has helped to develop the infrastructure of the sport. In October 2014, Germany agreed to put €700,000 towards the construction of a new cricket stadium in the city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan.
For donors eager to attach themselves to a good news story in Afghanistan, funding cricket holds obvious appeal. The Taliban’s support for cricket is also significant. Cricketers are not loathed by the most reactionary segments of Afghan society, as footballers often are, meaning that donors are insulated from criticism of pushing Western values before the country is ready. It also means that investment in cricket is unlikely to be wasted: cricket pitches and players have not been targets for Taliban attacks.
Sponsors have also invested in Afghan cricket: it offers one of the best ways for companies to reach the Afghan middle-class. The support means that Afghanistan is much less reliant on the International Cricket Council than other associate nations; ICC income only accounts for around a quarter of their funding.
In its running of the game, the Afghan Cricket Board is more enlightened than many full members. ‘The cricket board punch well above their weight in their environment in terms of good governance and administration. They’re really well-run,’ an ICC insider told me: chief executive Dr Noor Muhammad is a former United Nations youth coordinator.