PakPassion.net spoke to Afghanistan all-rounder, Mohammad Nabi who was an integral part of the team’s success. Nabi reflected on the true meaning of this achievement for him and his nation and the repercussions on the future of Afghan cricket.

By Amir Husain (23rd March, 2012)

With a convincing victory over Namibia on Thursday in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers in UAE, Afghanistan have been confirmed as the first associate nation to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup tournament to be held in Sri Lanka in September.

The qualification reflects another amazing chapter in the story of Afghan cricket as they seek to secure a place amongst the test playing nations.

PakPassion.net spoke to Afghanistan all-rounder, Mohammad Nabi who was an integral part of the team’s success. Nabi reflected on the true meaning of this achievement for him and his nation and the repercussions on the future of Afghan cricket.

As the performance of the national Cricket team is a source of great pride for Afghanistan, it was obvious that their second successive qualification for ICC’s showpiece twenty over event, would be greeted with great acclaim. Nabi confirmed that the only topic being discussed back home was related to Afghanistan’s qualification for the World Cup.

“This is the second time we have qualified for the ICC World T20 event and everyone at home is happy – we have made our nation proud and are very proud of our achievements! People have been calling me from UAE and in Afghanistan to tell me that they have been praying that we win – everyone is so happy that they have no words to express their joy.”

Nabi who has previously featured for the MCC and recently was a member of the Combined Associate XI that played England ahead of their series against Pakistan added “We will try and make our countrymen even happier by winning the final game of the T20 Qualifiers tomorrow and maintain our unbeaten record in this competition.”

The ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to be held in Sri Lanka this year between September 18 and October 7th with Afghanistan being placed in Group B alongside some strong opposition in the form of Australia and the West Indies. Mohammad Nabi understands the steep challenges that lie ahead but is clear about what Afghanistan wish to achieve in this tournament.

“Of course, we will try our best to win the tournament but realistically, we would like to win against Australia and West Indies – give them as tough a time as possible and Inshallah, qualify for the next round and then take it from there!”

The success of Bangladesh in the recently concluded Asia Cup has opened the eyes of the cricketing world to the abilities of the so called “weaker” teams and Mohammad Nabi is hopeful that their own performances will open the doors to loftier goals such as granting of a Test status to his country.

“We really hope that we are granted Test status as we are playing so well and also we have such a fanatical following in Afghanistan. We will try our best by playing good cricket in the coming months to show the world and ICC that we deserve Test status“

Afghanistan kick off their ICC World T20 campaign in Colombo against Australia in Group B on September 19, 2012 and will be looking to spring a surprise this time around having not been able to win any of their matches in the last T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.