Afghanistan

After facing a lot of hardships, cricket finally began in Afghanistan as Afghanistan Cricket Federation which was established in the year 1995 got the affiliate membership from the International Cricket Council in the year 2001 and from there, the beautiful journey of the game started in Afghanistan. Initially, the game was not that popular in the country, people didn't know the basics of cricket and the rules to be followed while playing the game. With time, Children started playing the game on the streets of their town and people started becoming more curious about the game while watching live tournaments on television. Afghanistan cricket has now established itself as a promising team after defeating the big teams several times. The team has also given several great players which are also shining with their impressive performances in the Indian Premier League too. Due to political and financial issues in Afghanistan, it was not an easy task to establish a professional cricket environment to support youngsters with their aspirations of becoming a cricketer and playing for their nation. But due to the regular and consistent efforts of well-wishers, Afghanistan Cricket has achieved several milestones and has played all the formats of the game.

Afghanistan became the Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the year 2001 while they became the Associate Member in 2013. The team is currently standing at the position of 9th in the One Day Internationals and T-20 formats of the game. While the best ICC ranking achieved by the side in Test Cricket was also the 9th position. Afghanistan played their first test against India from 14 June to 18 June in the year 2018 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. The team appeared in their first One Day International game while playing against Scotland on April 19, 2009, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.

Afghanistan's journey in the shortest format of the game began when the side played their first T-20 International game against Ireland at P. Sara, Colombo on February 1 in the year 2010. Afghanistan also has the world record of scoring the highest T-20 International score with a score of 278/3 while playing again against Ireland on February 23, 2019. Afghanistan cricket faced some critical issues when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. However, they allowed the national team of Afghanistan to participate in International matches. Afghanistan also successfully participated in the ICC T-20 World Cup in the year 2021.

Afghanistan Team Owner

Afghanistan Cricket Board is responsible for maintaining and governing all the cricket activities in Afghanistan. In June 2017, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) became a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC); before that, it was an associate member of the council controlling international cricket. ACB also became a member of the Asian Cricket Council. Taliban ordered the board to carry on the activities in the same way they were getting conducted before and also allowed the Afghanistan team to participate in international level matches and cricket tournaments.

ACB played a very appreciable role in the development of cricket in Afghanistan. From the training of youngsters to the development of stadiums and availing the basic international-level facilities, the board always worked actively day and night with full determination for the betterment and development of the sport in the country. Due to political issues, wars and invasions etc. Afghanistan Cricket faced several states losing the game and getting out of the international group of teams. Despite facing numerous hardships, with the rigid support of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, cricket in Afghanistan is still alive and achieving new heights with each passing day.

Afghanistan Brand Value

Compared to other countries of the world, Afghanistan has recently started their journey in the field of Cricket. However, in a very short period, the team has given the world several great players. Afghanistan had faced financial issues to a very big extent, which did not allow the team to have proper sports facilities. The team did not have their home ground in their country. Afghanistan's home grounds changed multiple times, India helped the Afghanistan side by providing them with the home grounds. Initially, they were allotted Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex as their home ground. Later, Ekana Sports City also became the home ground venue for the team. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also offered the home ground for the side. Afghanistan was unable to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 but the side was successful in achieving the status of a One Day International team.

Afghanistan successfully qualified for the ICC T-20 World Cup 2010 which was played in West Indies by defeating United Arab Emirates by 4 wickets. After that, Afghanistan achieved several milestones including an ACC trophy win by beating Nepal in the final. In 2012, Afghanistan played multiple One Day International games against Pakistan and Australia which are the full-time members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The brand value of the side has increased multiple folds during the last decade as they have played 4 T-20 World Cups, and played 2 consecutive One Day International World Cups in the year 2015 and 2019. The team were successful in achieving their first Test match victory while playing their second match against Ireland in March 2019.

Performance of Afghanistan over the years

Afghanistan has played 2 ODI World Cups and 6 T-20 World Cups till now. However, the side has not been successful in achieving any decent position in the table. But the team has the potential to give a challenging fight to the opponents to make their path difficult, especially during the league stage games of the tournament. The bowling department of the side created hurdles for big teams like India and Pakistan several times. The journey of Afghanistan has not been that impressive in ICC tournaments as the side started playing the tournaments just a few years back. For the T-20 World Cup 2007 and 2009, the side could not even qualify for the tournament and hence could not even play the initial two editions of the Twenty-Twenty World Cup. But the team got selected to play their first ICC T-20 World Cup tournament in the year 2010 and then consistently played all the successive editions of the tournament till the year 2022 which was the most recent edition of the World Cup of the shortest format of the game.

Year	ODI World Cup
2015	6th Position (Group Stage)
2019	10th Position (League Stage)
Year	T-20 World Cup
2010	12th Position (Round-1)
2012	11th Position (Round-1)
2014	14th Position (Round-1)
2016	9th Position (Super-10)
2021	7th Position (Super-12)
2022	12th Position (Super-12)

2015 ICC World Cup

Afghanistan participated in their first ICC Cricket World Cup in the year 2015 which was the 11th edition of the ODI Cricket World Cup. Afghanistan became a part of the World Cup 2015 after defeating Kenya on October 4, 2013, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The team finished at the position 6th in the Group Stage matches by winning only 1 match out of the total 6 contests played by the side. Afghanistan scored 232 runs against Sri Lanka and that was their highest score in the whole World Cup. The side recorded their lowest total against Australia when they could score only 142 runs.

From the Afghanistan side, Samiullah Shinwari was the highest run scorer with 158 runs in 5 innings at an average of 31.60. Shapoor Zadran had taken the maximum number of wickets for the side with 6 wickets in 5 matches at a bowling average of 37.83 and delivered the best spell of the edition while picking 2 wickets by giving only 20 runs with an economy rate of 2.85 against Bangladesh. The team could not win many matches in the full season of the tournament but was successful in achieving a very important tag of becoming the team to play the biggest tournament of the sport i.e. the ICC Cricket World Cup.

The 2019 ICC World Cup

Afghanistan could not secure even a single win in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and finished in the last position in the table. Afghanistan made their highest score of the World Cup 2019 when the team scored 288 runs while chasing a given target of 312 runs against the West Indies. Afghanistan gave a very tough fight to India. The bowling department of the side paused the Indian innings at a score of 224 runs only at the end of 50 overs and while chasing the target Afghanistan got all-out at the score of 213 runs and lost the contest by a very small margin of 11 runs.

Giving such a tough fight to India that too in the World Cup was almost a win for the side and that was only the game when the team was very close to attaining a victory in the whole season. Rahmat Shah was the highest run-scorer for the side with 254 runs in 9 innings with an average of 28.22 and a strike rate of 65.12. Mohammad Navi picked the highest number of wickets for the side with 10 wickets in 9 matches at an average of 33.50 and an economy rate of 4.61.

2010 T-20 World Cup

Afghanistan played their first ICC T-20 World Cup in the year 2010. The first T-20 World Cup season was not that good for the team and they finished at the position 12th in the Round-1. Noor Ali Zadran was the highest run-scorer for the side with 50 runs in 2 matches with an average of 25.00 and a strike rate of 98.03. Mirwais Ashraf and Asghar Afghan scored 23 and 33 runs with an average of 23.00 and 16.50 respectively. Hamid Hassan was the most successful bowler for the team with 4 wickets in 2 games by giving only 29 runs in 7 overs with an average of 7.25 and an economy rate of 4.14. Samiullah Shinwari took 1 wicket in 2 matches with a bowling average of 25.00 and an economy of 4.16.

2012 T-20 World Cup

Afghanistan was going to appear for the second time in the ICC World T-20 when they got selected to play for the ICC T-20 World Cup 2012. It was the 3rd edition of the tournament which was hosted by Sri Lanka. There was no significant improvement in Afghanistan’s position as compared to that of the T-20 World Cup 2010. The team finished at the position 11th in Round-1. Afghanistan faced India in the 3rd match of Group-A. While batting first India scored 159/5 and while chasing the given total, Afghanistan got all-out at the score of 136 runs and lost the contest by 23 runs.

2014 T-20 World Cup

The 4th edition of the tournament was hosted by Bangladesh and Afghanistan was going to take part for the third time in the tournament. Afghanistan finished at position 14 in Round-1. Afghanistan was at position 6 in the table with not even a single victory in 5 matches with a net run rate of -0.571. Afghanistan defeated Hong Kong in a group-stage game. While batting first Hong Kong made a total of 153/8 at the end of 20 overs and Afghanistan chased down the target in just 18 overs to win the contest by 7 wickets. Mohammad Shahzad became the player of the match with his innings of 68 runs in 53 deliveries. Mohammad Navi and Shapoor Zadran took 2-2 wickets by giving 27 runs in their spells. While playing against Bangladesh, the team got all-out at a score of only 72 runs in 17.1 overs and Bangladesh chased down the given target in just 12 overs to snatch a victory by 9 wickets and with 48 balls remaining.

2016 T-20 World Cup

Afghanistan was ready to start another ICC World T-20 campaign. This time the tournament was hosted by India. In the 2016 ICC World T-20, Afghanistan finished at position 9 in the Super-10. Afghanistan defeated Scotland in a Group-B match which was played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. Afghanistan made a challenging total of 170/5 at the end of 20 overs and while chasing the given total, Scotland could score only 156/5 and lost the contest by 14 runs. Mohammad Shahzad was the player of the match. Afghanistan won another match on the same venue by defeating Hong Kong by 6 wickets. The third win for the side was against Zimbabwe. Afghanistan scored 186/6 while doing the bat first and Zimbabwe got all-out at a total of 127 in 19.4 overs. Afghanistan defeated West Indies in a Super-10 game by 6 runs and that was the only win for the team in the Super-10 stage of the ICC World T-20 2016.

2021 T-20 World Cup

Afghanistan finished at the position 7th in the Super-12 in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2021. In the first two games, Afghanistan had to face defeats at the hands of India and New Zealand. Afghanistan defeated Namibia in their third match. While batting first, Afghanistan made a total of 160/5 at the end of 20 overs. While chasing the given target, Namibia could make only 98/9 and lost the contest by a big margin of 62 runs. In the next match, Afghanistan faced a defeat against Pakistan by 5 wickets. Afghanistan's second and last win in the tournament was against Scotland. Afghanistan made a challenging total of 190/4 at the end of the innings and Afghan bowlers were able to pick up all the wickets of opponents at a minimal score of 60 runs and won the contest by a huge difference of 130 runs. That was one of the record victories for Afghanistan in T-20 internationals.

The 2022 T-20 World Cup

The most recent edition of the T-20 World Cup was played in the year 2022 and Afghanistan finished their campaign at the last position in Super-12. Afghanistan lost their first contest against Australia in a nail-biting contest by 4 runs. While batting first, Australia scored 168/8 and while chasing the target Afghanistan could make 164/7 at the end of the innings. It was a big achievement for the side as they gave a very tough fight to one of the strongest teams in the world and almost pushed them to the line of losing the game. In the next game, Afghanistan again faced a defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka. Due to rain, the next 2 games were abandoned without a single ball bowled and in the last game, Afghanistan faced a defeat against England by 5 wickets. Ibrahim Zadran was the highest run-scorer for the side with 80 runs in 3 matches with a strike rate of 96.39.

Stats of Afghanistan Players

Afghanistan has produced several great talents which are shining in world cricket. The Afghanistan team started playing cricket just a few years ago but the team has proved its potential by their exceptional performances in recent tournaments.

Top Run Scorers for Afghanistan

Name of the Player	Matches Played	Runs Scored	Average	Strike Rate
Mohammad Shahzad	156	4811	31.65	88.48
Mohammad Nabi	246	4756	24.38	85.29
Asghar Afghan	195	4246	24.83	66.78
Najibullah Zadran	174	3658	31.80	90.26
Rahmat Shah	94	3468	37.29	70.48

Top Wicket Takers for Afghanistan

Name of the Player	Matches Played	Wickets Taken	Average	Economy
Rashid Khan	170	324	12.70	4.17
Mohammad Nabi	246	239	33.27	4.28
Dawlat Zadran	116	155	24.50	5.44
Mujeeb Ur Rahman	97	133	16.62	4.06
Hamid Hassan	63	94	16.57	4.60

Afghanistan's squad is full of many versatile and promising players who may play a very crucial role for the team in the upcoming tournaments. The team has already proved their potential with their breathtaking performances in recent matches and the ICC tournaments as well. In a very short time, the team has achieved worldwide recognition and day by day the form of the side is getting improved which is a very good sign for the team concerning their upcoming campaigns.