We have seen one of the best games so far in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where the Afghanistan Cricket Team defeated England in a close encounter by 8 runs. They will now lock horns against the current ODI WC Champions Australia on February 28 in Lahore. If they beat Australia in that game, they will reach the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal.
This is not the first time that the Afghanistan Cricket Team is in a situation of competing against big cricketing nations in the next stage of the ICC tournaments. They have been playing amazing cricket in the last few years, beating big teams in the world. There are so many instances now and in such a short time, Afghanistan Cricket Team has become a force in world cricket.
Today, we will go through the journey of the Afghanistan Cricket Team over the years. We will see how the Afghans got to know about cricket, the individuals who were involved in the transition, how they became a force in world cricket, how the other cricket boards supported them, and more related topics. So without wasting any time, let’s begin.
How Afghanistan Got to Know About Cricket?
Cricket was reportedly first introduced in Afghanistan in Kabul in 1839 during the Anglo-Afghan wars. During the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s and 1990s, Afghan people fled to Pakistan and lived there as ‘Afghan refugees’.
Cricket was already a popular sport in Pakistan at that time. Afghan refugees, while living in refugee camps in Peshawar, saw a group of individuals playing this game. They liked the game and started learning the game. Afghan people found a new passion for learning and playing cricket among themselves.
ALSO READ: Rajasthan Royals IPL 2025 Squad SWOT Analysis
The Role of Karim Sadiq and Taj Maluk in the Development of the Afghanistan Cricket Team
During the refugee days, there were two individuals (brothers) who lived there, named Karim Sadiq and Taj Maluk. Both individuals found an interest in playing a sport and dreamt of having an Afghanistan Cricket Team.
During an interview with VOA (Voice of America, an English News Channel), Karim Sadiq talked about the struggles of those days. He recalled the time when they used to play cricket with a stick and made plastic balls with waste plastic material. They used to play cricket in the daytime and did odd jobs at night.
Steadily, the passion for cricket kept increasing and a lot of local cricket teams and clubs have been formed.
His elder brother, Taj Maluk becomes the first coach of the Afghanistan National Cricket Team. Karim played an important role in Afghanistan’s qualification for the ICC T20 World Cup 2010.
How the journey started – From Playing Division Cricket to Become a Force in World Cricket?
Formation of a Cricket Board and First Appearance
During the initial days of playing, an Afghanistan Cricket Federation has been formed. The federation was formed in 1995. Later, the Afghanistan Cricket Federation becomes the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).
In 2001, Afghanistan established its national cricket team. Additionally, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted Affiliate status to the Afghanistan Cricket Federation (now the Afghanistan Cricket Board) in the same year.
The national team’s first appearance in professional cricket was in Pakistan’s domestic league called Quaid-e-Azam. They played five games in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s 2nd Division Tournament. The team lost three games and two games ended in a draw.
Asian Cricket Council Granted an Associate Membership to Afghanistan
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) granted the Afghanistan Cricket Team an associate membership in 2003. In 2006, they competed in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy and impressed by reaching the semifinals. Those performances made them believe that they can compete at the highest level as well. It also ignited excitement among Afghanistan cricket fans.
Afghanistan Started Performing Well in Division Cricket
Till then, the Afghanistan Cricket Team has started playing Division Cricket. They have done well in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2007. The team defeated Jersey in the final and won the title.
In the same year, they become joint winners in the first season of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 Cup. They played the final against Oman, which ended in a tie. Now here comes the role of Nawroz Mangal.
Nawroz Mangal is the former Afghanistan cricketer, who played a huge role in uplifting the national team.
Afghanistan continued its dominance in professional cricket
Afghanistan Cricket Team continued to impress world cricket with their performances at the professional level. They didn’t lose a single game in Division 4 in 2008, hosted by Tanzania. The team also won the Division 3 League in Argentina in 2009.
Due to those outstanding performances, they got the opportunity to play in the ICC World Cup 2011 Qualifiers. South Africa hosted the tournament in 2009. Although Afghanistan didn’t make it to the ICC ODI WC 2011 main event, they reached the Super 8 stage of the Qualifiers.
ODI Status in 2009
Till that time, the cricket world knew there was a team called ‘AFGHANISTAN’ who was coming onto the scene. The good performances consistently helped them to get an ODI Status from the ICC in April 2009. Considering the team had just started playing professional cricket 8 years ago, it’s a rapid growth. It was a great achievement for a cricket nation and their fans.
Afghanistan Played Their First-ever Major ICC Tournament in 2010
Afghanistan has featured in a few ICC tournament qualifiers, but they played their first-ever major ICC tournament in 2010. By beating Ireland in the final of the T20 WC 2010 Qualifiers, they qualified for the main tournament.
Although they lost the first two games against India and South Africa and got knocked out of the tournament, it was just the beginning. More than winning, it’s a proud moment for a nation to play in an ICC tournament. In the same year, they won the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai.
Along with the above-mentioned achievements, they continued their outstanding run in Division Cricket. They played in the final of the ICC World Cricket League Championship 2011-13.
First-ever Game against a Full-Member nation, and becoming an Associate Member of the ICC
Afghanistan played its first-ever game against Pakistan (an ICC Full-Member Nation) in Sharjah in 2012. PAK won that game by 7 wickets.
In 2013, the ICC granted an Associate Membership to the Afghanistan Cricket Team. Then comes the moment that all the Afghan fans were waiting for. The team played its first-ever ODI WC in 2015, hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
They registered their first-ever win in an ODI WC against Scotland in a close encounter. By now, the cricket world saw glimpses of something big to come soon.
Then, Afghanistan won a close game against a strong West Indies team in the 2016 T20 WC Group Stage.
Full-member Nation, First Test, and First Test Win
In 2017, they became a full member nation of the ICC and got the test status as well. They lost their first test against India in 2018, within two days. But, it was a historic moment for Afghanistan. To play test cricket is a big achievement for a new team.
In 2019, they won their first-ever test match against Ireland by 7 wickets. They also played an ODI WC in 2019, but it was a horror show for them as they lost all 9 games in the tournament.
Afghanistan Has Arrived in World Cricket – ODI WC 2023
In between the ODI WC 2019 and 2023, the Afghanistan Cricket Team has played some really good cricket in the bilateral. Now, they continue to feature in the T20 WC main events. They become a fierce competitor in world cricket.
Afghanistan became a force and started to win matches and series consistently against teams like West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka. They also give tough competition to even big teams like India, Australia, New Zealand, etc in white-ball cricket.
But, their best was yet to come. And then came the ICC ODI WC 2023 in India. The team showed their actual worth in the tournament and won games against big teams like Pakistan, England, and Sri Lanka. They also defeated the Netherlands and finished at No. 6 in the points table.
Afghanistan has also pulled off a game against Australia in that tournament. If Glenn Maxwell had not won that match for Australia, Afghanistan could have even reached the semifinal.
Reaching the T20 WC 2024 Semis: Afghanistan’s ODI WC 2023 Performances Wasn’t a Fluke
Afghanistan shows the world what they did in ODI WC 2023. They reached the T20 WC 2024 semifinal by beating teams like West Indies, New Zealand, Australia, and Bangladesh in the Group and Super 8 Stages. Unfortunately, they lost the semifinal against South Africa one-sided in Trinidad on June 27.
The Impact of Taliban on Afghanistan Cricket
Most of the Afghanistan cricketers faced a ruling of Taliban in the country. As we all know, the Taliban government has banned all women’s sports and men’s sports (except cricket). They were fortunate that the Taliban didn’t ban cricket in the country. Maybe because they are fond of this game, they didn’t ban cricket. Also, they were worried about how the public could respond if they banned it because of how popular the game is.
Due to Taliban rule, their women’s team didn’t feature in the WC. The men’s team also faced difficulties with infrastructure and lack of grounds. It hampered their growth to some extent, but they have found ways to get through. Their U-19 team has also done well in the recent tournaments.
Support From Other Cricket Boards
Other cricket boards in the world have supported Afghanistan cricket in many ways. Over the years, the cricket boards from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and UAE have provided grounds for Afghan teams to practice and host home international games.
It helped the Afghanistan Cricket Team to a great extent. And look where they are now. No team will take them lightly in international cricket.
To be fair, Afghanistan has done what teams like Bangladesh, Ireland, and Zimbabwe are struggling to do over the years. They have grown up as a cricketing nation, even earlier than the above-mentioned teams. Having played the first-ever tournament in 2010 till now (2025), 15 years is a small sample size. Afghanistan has made a huge jump as compared to teams like BAN, IRE, ZIM, etc who have been playing cricket for more than 25+ years.
CONCLUSION: What’s Next for the Afghanistan Cricket Team?
Afghanistan Cricket is here to stay. They have shown glimpses of becoming a big team in the future. Yesterday, they again won a game against a big team like England in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Their bowling, and particularly the spinners has the skills to trouble the opposition batters.
Their new crop of fast bowlers; Fazalhaq Farooqi, Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, etc have shown the potential to perform on big stages. On a batting front, youngsters like Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahidi, and Rahmat Shah has done well in the recent past. Overall, Afghanistan has the potential to become a big team in the future.
Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb, Noor, Gurbaz, etc are now global superstars and youngsters in Afghanistan would want to become like them in the future. They don’t want to look for a role model outside of their nation.
So this is it for today. The Afghanistan Cricket Team’s History and Journey are way bigger than this. In between, they have seen a lot of struggle and their rise is quite remarkable, emotional, and inspiring. We can’t cover all the things in one article.
What’s your take on this? Comment your opinion below. And comment on your favorite moment regarding the Afghanistan Cricket. Keep following us for these types of interesting stories, news, updates, analysis, and more.
