In our childhood days, we grew up hearing stories of Kabuliwallah and Mini — the characters from Rabindranath Tagore’s writings. For the current generation and those born in this millennium, all this may sound Greek and Latin!
On Sunday night, it was hard not to get emotional thinking about the turmoil Afghanistan has gone through for decades. There were invasions, wars, upheavals and what not. Diplomats will talk of their relationship with other nations, what needs to be done and so on. All that will make no sense to sports lovers. During and after the World Cup match against England, New Delhi and India fell in love with Afghanistan.
It had nothing to do with one Kabuliwallah though. It was about a team called Afghanistan. Overnight in India, characters like Gurbaz, Mujeeb, Nabi, Naveen and Rashid became household names. To see the spectators cheer for Afghanistan was awesome. There was emotion, drama and excitement. And of course, there was plenty of good cricket from the men who travelled through the frontier borders. In the good old days, India had a friend in Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who was nicknamed Frontier Gandhi.
On Sunday night, watching Afghan fans flutter their flag, mingle with Delhi fans and cheer against England struck a chord. India has a link with Afghanistan and all their cricket characters. Like us, they do not speak stiff, upper lip English. Yet, if cricket is a language where batting, bowling and fielding are the grammar and syntax, Afghanistan refined it.
Their master class was laced with adrenaline. Yet, they were humble, almost reverential, and played clean cricket. As they say in Urdu, in the end it was ‘Masha Allah’! For sheer precision and planning, the Afghan operation was flawless. The way they batted and then bowled with guile was absorbing. From afternoon to night, the cricket was refreshing.
They are not the masters of ODIs. They play T20 leagues around the world when given chances. For such a side to rock England in the 50-over format was a welcome sight for the game. Everything backfired for captain Jos Buttler and his team. To say they were clueless would not be an exaggeration.
The lessons the Afghans taught the defending champions were effulgent. It was simple yet nuanced cricket. The inputs from coach Jonathan Trott, a former England player, and mentor Ajay Jadeja, a shrewd brain, must have been crisp and clear. The execution was so effortless that the England players must have wept in their hotel rooms.
Not one batter other than Harry Brook could handle the bowling where the variety was captivating. Accuracy, line and length, decent fielding and above all, backing each other reflected cricket of mature values. Pessimists can say this was a flash in the pan. No way. The Afghan team loves the Arun Jaitley Stadium and the people who backed them.
Look at the hard times Afghanistan has been through, politically and economically. It is not in good shape. The recent earthquake added to the pain and trauma. One hopes cricket helps in whatever way it can. This is the beauty of sport. You play from the heart, play for your country. When you are doing that for the love of it, forget everything else for a few hours.
India has been a helping hand for Afghan cricket. Camps have been held in the outskirts of the capital for their teams in the past. Cricketers like Suresh Raina ensured they got proper nets in Noida before the pandemic. Afghanistan’s cricket loves India and they owe a thank you to the BCCI for helping them out.
Forget war. Shed a tear for the earthquake victims and donate if you can. Yes, on Sunday night, Team Afghanistan ensured that the cricket tremor was felt right across till England. Lovely, isn’t it? This fantastic script produced by Afghanistan?