Out of the Ashes
Coming into the world cup, nobody expected anything from Afghanistan and the expectations were justified because Afghanistan is 0–7(as of 25th June 2019) and with only 2 games remaining, they are officially eliminated. Neither the players nor the coaching and management staff is to blame here as this team is by far the least experienced team in the world cup. It is not their win-loss record, but the fight they come out to give each and every day, against teams which they know are better and more experienced than them, that is going to define their performance in this world cup. This looks like the light of a new dawn emerging over this war-ridden nation.
After a devastating 150 run loss against England, they didn’t quit. After the Iceland cricket team mocked Rashid Khan and the rest of the team on Twitter, they didn’t quit. In fact, it looks like this lit a fire within them and in the very next game, they gave all they had against an undefeated Indian squad. They held India to just 224 runs, their lowest this tournament so far, giving India a real scare which was very apparent as Virat Kohli got fined for excessive appealing during the game. Even ‘Captain Cool’ MS Dhoni who is known for keeping his composure and appealing only if certain, was appealing to the Umpires every chance he got. It was sheer experience and a brilliant last over by Mohammed Shami that won India the game.
Sure Afghanistan might not win another game this World Cup but, but they certainly have a bright future. A lot of their best players like Rashid Khan, Hazratullah Zazai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are 21 and under and have a lot of potential to improve. These guys will also inspire a young generation of cricket players to step forward to be the future of this team. Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, everyone considered Sri Lanka as an easy team to beat, much like Afghanistan today; a few years later they went on to win the World Cup. Cricket fans across the world should be excited about a new team coming on to the stage and competing at the highest level.
