In the Afghanistan Vs Zimbabwe match played at Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan registered a 158-run victory over Zimbabwe in the ODI tri-nation series. The formidable victory has been the result of its hard work, perseverance along with the role of India in shaping the Afghan team.
Indian support to the Afghan team: Despite the presence of very promising players in the team the Afghan cricket earlier lacked experience in playing against top international world cricket teams which was blocking their progress at the international level. Realising the importance of giving more international exposure to the Afghan team, the Board of Cricket Control in India stepped in. In 2018 BCCI supported the Afghan team by facilitating playing one practice game against international teams touring India.
These steps have cemented the ties in the past. Also, Afghan team regularly plays against India in bilateral series. Afghanistan toured India in June 2026 for a Test and three ODIs. Afghanistan played a three-match T20I series against India in Delhi in September 2026. Despite the Afghanistan team making Abu Dhabi its exclusive UAE destination for training camps and competitive cricket during 2025–2029, India has been giving full out support to the team.
The Afghan team has been shifting its training base between India and UAE. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in 2015 at the Delhi’s Constitution Club for training in India for Afghanistan team. In fact in the period post 2015 then newly-built Greater Noida cricket stadium emerged as the home ground for Afghanistan cricketers after they shifted their base from UAE where they were earlier training.
The Afghan team has also benefited from the expert advises from Indian players. In the past several former Indian cricketers have been associated with Afghan cricket team helping and mentoring them. Former Indian batsman, Lalchand Rajput took to the mentoring of the team as the head coach in 2016 and continued on the position till 2017 while former Indian fast bowler Manoj Prabhakar helped the Afghan seamers sharpen their bowling. Ajay Jadeja served as Afghanistan’s mentor during the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India. In August 2024, the Afghanistan Cricket Board appointed Sridhar, India’s former fielding coach, as assistant coach for the team’s series against New Zealand and South Africa.
Afghanistan cricket journey: Afghanistan is the 12th Test cricket playing Full Member nation. Cricket has been played in the country since the 19th century and its fascination for the sport is growing with the formation of the national team.
A full Test playing nation status was granted to Afghanistan in 2017 after a decade of playing top-class international cricket.
In 2019, it registered its first Test victory by defeating Ireland in Dehradun. At the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Afghanistan defeated England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, finishing sixth. Its biggest breakthrough came in the 2024 T20 World Cup, when it defeated Australia and Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals for the first time. In September 2024, Afghanistan secured its first bilateral ODI series victory over South Africa.
There is no other way more popular than the sports to strengthen bilateral relations. India-Afghanistan relations received momentum with India taking the initiative to promote the Afghan cricket at the international level. Cricket has a very promising future in Afghanistan and as it becomes more popular it will create a goodwill for India for their support in making the Afghan team emerging as a top-class cricket playing nation.
Afghanistan cricket has a very bright future as they have some of the best quality batsman and bowlers. They only need some mentoring and exposure in emerging as a strong team. With the Indian support for the Afghan cricket, it is very likely that Afghanistan will continue its brilliant performance as evident during Afghanistan Vs Zimbabwe clash.
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