Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officials have sought support from the BCCI for development of the sport in their war-torn country.
The officials held a meeting with the BCCI officials on Sunday and discussed various issues such as coaching, umpiring and scoring.
"We
had a good meeting with BCCI honorary secretary (Sanjay Jagdale) and general manager for game development (Ratnakar Shetty). It's in the initial stage. We want to build up good relations with BCCI. We want help to develop technical staff, coaches, umpires, scorers and video analysts," said Shahazadah Masood, advisor minister and chairman of ACB.
Also present at the meeting held at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) was ACB's high performance programme manager, Basheer Stanekzai.
"We are preparing a new Under 19 team as the last World Cup team is over-aged. We have selected a 20-member squad. We are working on it and preparing for the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Under 19 Cup to be held in Malaysia from May 1 to 12. That's the qualification round for the next U-19 World Cup. We need good coaches, especially in terms of batting," said Stanekzai.
"We have weaknesses in batting. As compared to it we have good fast bowlers and have chased 400-run target. They have the talent but are not confident. We want them to learn to stay at the wicket for a long time, build innings and be consistent in performance. They can hit the ball very well but need to learn to stay at the wicket."
He elaborated the road map drawn for development of the game in his country and wished for bigger support from the other Asian member boards like BCCI.
"Afghanistan is a poor country, war-hit country. We haven't got as much support as England gives to Ireland and Scotland. Every time they have invited Australia, they (England and Wales Cricket Board) give 1 or 2 ODIs to Ireland or Scotland and they also play themselves. We haven't got that much support from Asian Board members," the two ACB officials said.