Give Afghanistan more matches

So far in the ICC World Twenty20, the performances of the minnows have been utterly frustrating. Zimbabwe were down and dusted by the guile of the Sri Lankan and South African bowlers while the Irish had no clue against Shane Watson and Co. But on Wednesday night one team's spirit and enthusiasm brought enough joy amongst the spectators who were bored with the foregone conclusion regarding the minnows' outings.

Afghanistan were the flavor of Wednesday night against India. About most of the time the Afghans kept India jolted, never letting them dominate, but in turn made the Indians work hard for their victory.

With Shapoor Zardan, Afghanistan delivered a strong breeze in Colombo - the first ball he bowled was dug short and in the course of time he increased pace which hassled the Indian openers and he was rewarded with the scalps of both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Had the catches not been dropped and had Virat Kohli not been there then India would've found themselves in all sorts of trouble.

In response to India's total the Afghanistan batsmen sent chills down the Indians spine with a spirited batting display. Mohammad Shahzad's helicopter shot was the sign of their guts while the brave fightback by Nawroz Mongol and Mohammad Nabi hinted the fighting spirit of this war-ravaged nation. But in the end they just could not bear the weight of the world. Each of their efforts were cheered, each of the cheers were simply a rich tribute towards their fighting spirit.

The Afghans were brilliant and they have the spark in them to make things bigger, but the tendency to explode all of a sudden undermines their fine efforts which offer so much promise. To transform this spark into something productive teams like Afghanistan need more exposure to international cricket against the quality oppositions. Without playing against quality teams on a regular basis these gritty little teams can't develop themselves for the future.

At one time the Kenyans offered plenty of promise. They had some very good competitive players who used to notch up spirited performances. But due to lack of matches on a regular basis a cricket culture never developed amongst them. And for which as time progressed the Kenyans' cricket enthusiasm has gone into hibernation. They are not that good side of the past.

Like Kenya, Afghanistan's zest for the game will vanish if they are not exposed to international cricket regularly. To develop a cricket culture in Afghanistan they must be given adequate international exposure. Cricket enthusiasm is bubbling in Afghanistan and the energy their cricket team provides in every match they play is praiseworthy. To give the world cricket a new dimension Afghanistan's emergence is necessary and again the cricket power houses along with the ICC must come forward to help and encourage the Afghan's spirit which never got lost despite their country's fragile political condition.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Note: This article has been published in CricketNext.com on 21/09/2012

Give Afghanistan more matches