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T20I opener in Mohali on Jan 11: Amid chill, excitement heats up among Afghanistan fans
The thrilled fans, most of them students in various tricity institutes, have already booked their tickets and readied their outfits for D-Day
The chilly weather notwithstanding, the Afghanistan cricket fans in the tricity are warming up for the T20I series opener between Afghanistan and India at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali on January 11.
The thrilled fans, most of them students in various tricity institutes, have already booked their tickets and readied their outfits for D-Day. One corner of the stadium will have Afghan fans dressed in their national Pashtun attire “perahan tunban”, cheering on the Ibrahim Zadran led-Afghanistan cricket team.
Naveed Momand, an MSc IT student at Panjab University, who comes from Nangarhar, Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan region, can’t wait to meet his friends Ikram Alikhil, a wicket-keeper batsman, and Azmatullah Omarzai, an all-rounder.
Naveed, Alikil and Omarzai played together at a local cricket academy back in Nangarhar.
“I was at the Dharamsala stadium as well in the ODI World Cup game played between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It was great meeting the Afghanistan team then. Since the change in power in our country, things have been tumultuous. Cricket wins bring much-needed joy to our countrymen. It was disheartening to see Afghanistan not qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals after beating Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England,” said 26-year-old Naveed, who adores Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran and Omarzai, who was bought by Gujarat Titans for ₹50 lakh for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).
Back in 2018, the Dehradun cricket stadium had become the Afghanistan cricket team’s home ground and later the one in Noida with help of BCCI. Now, UAE hosts Afghanistan matches.
Cricket gained popularity in Afghanistan when refugees residing in Pakistan after fleeing a homeland ravaged by the Soviet-Afghan War took the sport home with them in the 1990s.
The past decade saw a large number of Afghanistan students enrolling in Indian universities at Patiala, Delhi, Dehradun, Pune and Chandigarh. However, since Taliban returned to power after the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2021, the Indian visa office has been shut in Afghanistan. The closure has posed hurdles for students wishing to study in India.
Faisal Adil, pursuing MA in sociology from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, said, “Afghanistan Cricket Board is indirectly under the influence of the Taliban. Since then, women have stopped playing cricket and other sports. Our team has been doing so well in various T20 leagues and other global events. Back in Afghanistan, cricket is a stress-buster.”
“My 12-year-old nephew is also learning the sport. I come from leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s home town. I am a huge fan of Rashid. He did not play in the T20 series against UAE recently due to his back surgery. I hope we can see him in action here,” said the 27-year-old.
Around 60-70 Afghan students study in Chandigarh. The Afghanistan team arrived in the city on Sunday and will be hitting the nets at the Mohali stadium on Monday evening.
Expressing his thrill and excitement over the match, Zabihullah Momand, 26, wants Afghanistan to start the series with a win. “Thanks to India and BCCI, our team has got amazing cricket facilities in the past years to play matches. We were all rooting for India in the World Cup final. The Afghanistan team did well in the World Cup. They should beat India in Mohali. It would be tough to grip the ball at night, so the team batting first should be scoring a huge total. Omarzai should be the man to look out for. It would also be interesting if Rashid Khan plays,” said Momand.
The Mohali stadium is hosting a night T20I game in winter for the first time. The second match of the series will be held in Indore on January 14 and the last in Bengaluru on January 17.
