Afghanistan Team Guide and the Journey so far
The Afghanistan national cricket team became the 12th Test-playing country in the history of cricket. Afghanistan achieved full-member status from the ICC in 2017, effectively achieving Test status after holding an affiliate ICC membership from 2001 to 2013.
The emergence of Afghanistan national cricket team players such as Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahmann, Gulbadin Naib and Mohammed Nabi have improved the team drastically over the past five years. The improvements have come mainly in the shortest format of the game, where they are currently 8th in the rankings, above other Test-playing nations like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
They played their first T20 international against Ireland in February 2010, where they lost by 5 wickets. The same month, they picked up their first win in the T20s by defeating the UAE to qualify for the 2010 T20 World Cup in the West Indies. They have made steady progress in the ODI format as well, qualifying for the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups.
While Afghanistan’s rise in the white-ball formats was quick, the Test team has made steady progress. The Afghanistan cricket team played their first Test against neighbours India in 2018, where they lost comprehensively by an innings and 262 runs. The loss created a lot of doubts as to whether this group of Afghanistan cricket players are suited to the longest format of the game after excelling in white-ball formats.
But the Afghanistan cricket team cast aside all the critics as they bounced back straight away by defeating Ireland by 7 wickets, who received Test status at the same time as them. The Afghanistan cricket team truly announced themselves in the Test arena when they beat Bangladesh in their own backyard in Chittagong. A win against Zimbabwe soon followed, which established their status as one of the rising teams in Test cricket.
At the centre of this rise has been Afghanistan’s national cricket players like Rashid Khan, Asgar Afghan, Rahmat Shah and Mohammed Nabi. While Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah have played crucial roles in the Test arena, Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan have starred in white-ball cricket.
Some role in their rise to the top during this period has to be attributed to the Afghanistan cricket coach Phil Simmons. After Phil Simmons left after a disappointing 2019 World Cup where they finished last, Lance Klusener was appointed as the Afghanistan cricket coach, who has continued the good work of his predecessor. Klusener also left his role last month and Stuart Law has been handed the job on an interim basis.
Like any side, Afghanistan cricket has also had its fair share of controversies and off-field issues, mainly related to captaincy. It all started with the removal of Asghar Afghan as skipper going into the 2019 World Cup where Gulbadin Naib was handed the reins. Senior players Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan backed their former captain, who was still seen as the leader in the dressing room.
Gulbadin was stripped of the captaincy in July 2021 and Rashid Khan was appointed as skipper. But the leg-spinner stepped down from his role just hours after the selection committee released the squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Even though off-field issues haven’t been avoided by the Afghanistan cricket team, they are still on the right track as far as performances on the pitch are concerned.