Nabi’s Afghans focused on putting on good show for fans

As Afghanistan prepared for their opening match in the T20 World Cup against Scotland, captain Mohammad Nabi faced questions on politics with a straight bat. “Everyone knows that back home in Afghanistan there’s a lot happening from the last few months,” Nabi said yesterday.

“But as a cricket point of view, everybody is ready for this World Cup and we prepared well. The fans are really waiting because the only happiness in Afghanistan is cricket,” he said.

“If you’re willing to do well in the tournament and we win the games, the fans are really happy and there will be a lot of smiles on faces.”

After the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in August, there was uncertainty over their participation at the T20 World Cup. Then star spinner Rashid Khan stepped down as captain before visa issues in the Gulf placed yet another hurdle in the team’s path. All-rounder Nabi, who took charge from Rashid, conceded that the last 10 days were not “ideal”.

Afghanistan are only a second-tier ‘associate nation’ but their strength in T20 allowed them to qualify directly for the main stage while Test nations Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had to battle through the first round.

Nabi hopes his side will get the elite status soon. “We do well in the tournament and, inshallah, we’ll be the next team,” he said.

Afghanistan’s success in T20 is built on their big-hitting batting and the spin bowling of their ‘Big Three’, Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. In all, eight of their 15-man World Cup squad have experience of playing professional T20 cricket in other countries.

“I think it’s for those cricketers playing cricket all over the world, especially five, six, seven players are playing different franchise cricket from last six months,” said Nabi, who played in the recently completed Indian Premier League season in UAE.

“We are playing a lot of cricket in UAE and we know the conditions,” he said.