Kabir Khan "We only have one proper cricket pitch but we are in the World Cup Finals"

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by Saj Sadiq

 

13th February 2010

 

Mention the word Afghanistan and it conjures up the images that we all see on a daily basis on the various news channels around the globe. Sadly Afghanistan and it's people at the moment have very little to be positive about. However cricket seems to be raising a few smiles amongst the local population, especially given that the Afghanistan cricket team has qualified for the Twenty/20 World Cup finals due to take place in the Caribbean later this year.

PakPassion.net caught up with Afghanistan's jubilant coach Kabir Khan who during his playing career represented Afghanistan's near neighbours Pakistan in 4 tests and 10 one day internationals.

Kabir a left arm medium fast bowler stated that the planning for this World Cup qualification started around 18 months ago. "It all started in Jersey around 18 months ago and we have steadily progressed in the last 18 months. The Afghanistan team have been promoted through the Associate member leagues and from Division 5 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League we have managed promotions through to the top tier".

"Missing out on the fifty over World Cup finals was a huge disappointment after we finished in 5th place with only the top 4 qualifying, but in a way that acted as a motivator for us this time around and we didnt want to miss out on this occasion" stated Kabir.

"We have also been playing 3 and 4 day games against Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Ireland and Canada and we have managed to beat all of them at some point" added Kabir.

The former Habib Bank bowler continued "Our preparation for the Twenty/20 World Cup qualifying tournament has been excellent. We decided that due to financial constraints we would hold a camp in Sri Lanka rather than the UAE. In Sri Lanka we played matches against Sri Lanka "A", Canada and Ireland. We lost to Sri Lanka "A" and to Ireland, but the matches served a great purpose and the games were of real benefit to the boys".

Kabir whose first class career in Pakistan spanned 14 seasons continued "We came to the UAE confident and we really wanted to make the people of Afghanistan happy".

Peshawar born Kabir feels that the achievments of the Afghanistan team should not be underestimated especially given that there is only one turf cricket pitch in the whole of the country. "We don't have a proper domestic cricket structure and we only have one proper turf cricket ground in Afghanistan, the rest are artifical pitches. The people of Afghanistan are crazy about cricket and there are around 100 clubs in Kabul and about 200 cricket clubs in Jalalabad and I'm so pleased that we can give them something to be happy about".

The Aghanistan squad according to Kabir are a hard working, self motivated and talented bunch. "It's a pleasure working with these boys, they have given me so much respect and they really do want to learn and are desperate to work hard and improve their standard of play.

The winner of tonights final between Ireland and Afghanistan will join India and South Africa in Group C of the Twenty/20 World Cup Finals, whilst the runner up will play in Guyana against the West Indies and England.