Sport is drama, not reel but real. It is all about raw emotion. From agony to ecstasy. When Litton Das and Taskin Ahmed were going you could see the tense faces getting more and more anxious. You could see the dressing room pushing Rashid Khan and his boys. The DL (Duckworth Lewis) par score was 104 and Bangladesh was on 105. How could the cricket gods be so cruel? How could they deny Afghanistan? How could it be that a story which is no less than a fairytale would be cut short by rain or more?
Bangladesh did not deserve it. At no point did they play like a team that could make the semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup. Australia did not deserve it, more so after losing to Afghanistan. And for Rashid Khan, you could see what it meant to him. To Gurbaz and Gulbadin who even tried to put in an Oscar winning effort when coach Jonathan Trott asked him to slow the game down. For every Afghanistan player, this was a matter of life and death. In fact, more. It was sport at its absolute best and that’s what you want to see. Tomorrow if Rashid fights for the President’s post in Afghanistan, he might win. He is demi-god in his country and that’s what sport does. It can elevate an entire people and give joy that is unrivalled.
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Afghanistan’s journey in this World Cup, may we say, has enriched the sport. That’s how important it is and the good thing is it hasn’t ended. Let’s get to Rashid. Four wickets yet again after 19 runs with three sixes. It is pure genius. Add his intensity on the field and you are speaking of someone who is a pied piper in the true sense. He is an inspiration to everyone who plays sport and will perhaps lead a generation to pick up a cricket ball back home. More importantly, Rashid is proof that you can be the best even if you don’t have the basic facilities while growing up, and if you are, resources aren’t an issue.
Can they go on and make it their 1983 moment as I have been repeatedly saying. Can they beat South Africa? Can they continue with this dream run? Can they add further to this fairytale and this script? We have two days to soak it all. Celebrate them and get ready for another epic. Each ball bowled is part of history and we are all living it. Let the dream carry on and let us celebrate. It is not Afghanistan’s win. The sport has won and we are all a part of it.
Also Read: Is this Afghanistan’s 1983 moment?