Dubai: Despite being a war-torn country with virtually no facilities for the game, the Afghanistan cricket team created history by qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup to be staged in the West Indies next month.
The Afghan team qualified at the ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers, hosted by the UAE, in a series of awe inspiring games recording an achievement that can be described as nothing short of a fairy tale.
Not satisfied with that, Afghanistan then went on to chase down a huge target of 494 runs set by Canada, in a four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup game, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, to stun their rivals.
This splendid performance was watched by thousands of Afghan fans in the UAE, who turned up at every venue to cheer their national team.
Perhaps, the credit for turning this makeshift team into a winning combination should go to coach Karim Khan. His influence over his wards is so complete that the players consider him as their mentor and address him as brother.
Khan is a familiar and popular face among UAE cricketers, having coached the national team till two years ago before he took charge of Afghanistan.
Speaking to Gulf News, Khan narrated the tale of Afghanistan's rise to fame and how they overcome various hurdles to leave an indelible mark in international cricket.
"I left the UAE to coach a county team in Scotland," said Khan.
"The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) then approached me to help Afghanistan. The main barrier in coaching them was the language as most of the players could not understand English. I lived in Peshawar in Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, and I was familiar with their language and culture. I took up the job because I had heard some good things about their players from different coaches and teams and I decided to give it a try.
"Initially, I took the offer for only two months, but soon I enjoyed being with them and here I am now," said Khan, who has played four Test matches and 10 one-dayers for Pakistan.
When Khan reached Afghanistan he realised that there weren't adequate facilities for the game.
Helping hand
"There is only one turf wicket and it is not up to standard," he endorsed. "Though in terms of facilities there is nothing, it is still a cricket crazy country. The game is played everywhere, mostly with a tennis ball in the streets, or on cement wickets."
Acknowledging the assistance of neighbouring countries in the development of his cricketers Khan said: "We depend on Test playing countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They have provided us with camps while financial assistance has come from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
"As a coach it was really tough due to the prevailing conditions in the country, but I think things are slowly settling down," said Khan, who has utilised every available opportunity to groom his players.
"The current scenario in Afghanistan is not conducive to international cricket. We cannot even host a coaching camp. We tried many times but gave up due to lack of facilities," he confessed.
"All these obstacles were, however, overcome by my players' desire to play the game. Whatever we have achieved is because my boys are hungry for cricket. They are good learners. They are also talented and this makes the learning process easy," said Khan.
Dwelling on the merits of his team Khan, who single-handedly shaped their development, said: "The Afghans are strong and hard working. This has helped their cricket. They are so strong and well built that my biggest task was to control their weight. They eat a lot of meat and it was tough to restrain them. I had to channelise their strength by prescribing diets. My job as a coach was not just to teach cricket, but to guide them on clothing and how to speak and act like professionals. Fortunately, they accepted me as a big brother," he said.
Khan is now happy that his boys have responded to the challenges. "They are becoming professional," he said.
Fan base
"They are earning some money from the game now as well as getting opportunities to play regularly and earn fame. There is a huge fan base for cricket in Afghanistan. These factors will inspire them, but they need to play against superior opposition on a regular basis," he added.
"If they go back home they won't get to play enough cricket and their standards will drop. We need to play international teams and try to participate in domestic competitions in neighbouring countries. India, for instance, has got a strong domestic structure and if we can play there it would be great."
When asked to detail his squad's state of preparedness ahead of the World Cup, he said: "I don't want to put any extra pressure on my boys. You cannot change a player in a month. What I plan to do is to release the pressure on them and ask them to enjoy the game and not try to be a Sachin Tendulkar or somebody else. We don't have to prove anything to anyone. All we want to do is give our best."
Khan revealed that his squad had a busy schedule ahead of them.
"We will play in the ACC trophy in Kuwait in the end of March. In early April we will return for a camp to Sharjah and then go either to the US, or the West Indies, to get acclimatised for the World Cup. After the World Cup we will play in a six-nation tournament in Holland."
