By: Samantha Hewabandula
City of Kabul over the years have been famous known for war and a place of uncertainties as the world saw what unfolded there with the The Taliban taking control of Afghanistan following the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces and the fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021. As a country since then due to various factors, playing sport has been some what a tough task and though a test playing nation for Afghan Cricket too it has not been any difference where the team had to find new ground and were relocated in India for some time. However, as per reports 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.
For decades, Afghanistan has been portrayed to the world largely through bleak accounts of political turmoil, daily bombings, mass causalities, and humanitarian crises. As I see it, its only real success story, has been cricket. The world’s second-most popular sport has long been a national pastime in Afghanistan, and it has given the Afghan people, through decades of struggle, a way to see their nation shine on the world stage.
During the past, Sports and music were not appreciated much in Afghanistan, for obvious reasons as they had many in their cards to focus on but today, Cricket has become the most popular sport in Afghanistan.
Gone are the days that one underestimated the side and after stemming out form a stunning performance at the last world cup they have shown the cricketing world that they are no pushover. One tend to wonder as to how they have become so strong as they even do not have a proper domestic cricket structure like a cricket developed country. The Afghanistan cricket team is scheduled to play their first one day game against Sri Lanka in Kandy today and the Kabul boys have shown the world what they are when it comes to one day cricket and shown a lot of talent and character. As such, Sri Lanka cannot take things easy with no chances taken to pressure the visitors to find the edge over them.
Sri Lanka would be looking at all guns firing and very confident getting on to the field today, as they have the test series under their belt
