Afghanistan scripted history on Tuesday when it stormed into the semi-finals of T20 World Cup by beating Bangladesh in Kingstown, West Indies.  While the team deserves kudos for this maiden feat, India’s role in shaping cricket environment in strife-torn Afghanistan needs to be underlined.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, former Australia all- rounder Tom Moody, almost all Indian Premier League (IPL) teams and former India cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath praised the team for being bigger than its circumstances.

Afghan players, undoubtedly, have become darlings of cricket loving patrons all over the world, but they may be thanking in their heart of hearts Shaheed Vijay Singh Sports Complex, Greater Noida. Also, the role of Indian coaches to unlock the Afghan talent and hone it to enable the Afghanis to compete at the highest level has to be acknowledged.

This sports complex became the temporary home ground or nursery for Afghanistan team in 2015, and credit for this goes to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).  It provided all facilities to Afghanistan to come up to the international levels.

Afghanistan shifted their base to Noida from Sharjah and even played international matches against Ireland in Greater Noida in 2017.

Greater Noida was not only the ‘home ground’ for Afghan players, it had also “hosted” a Twenty20 series against Bangladesh in Dehradun.

Former India players Lalchand Rajput, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja have coached the Afghanistan team in the past. In fact, Jadeja was their mentor till as recently as the ODI World Cup 2023.

The BCCI had invited then Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani to watch the team play its first Test match in Bengaluru, taking a big step forward to strengthen the relations between the two nations and teams.

Afghan talent bloomed by leaps and bounds when many players from there regularly started playing in the Indian Premier League(IPL).Besides rubbing shoulders with the best in the world, Afghan players have also earned handsome salaries thereby becoming role models for other aspiring cricketers from their country.

Over the years, the participation of Afghan players has increased drastically in the IPL and the number is only going to go up.

Afghanistan became full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2017, and in 2024, the team booked its passage into the semi-finals of a World Cup (T20) for the first time.

In the ongoing tourney, Afghanistan was labelled as underdogs but along the way, it proved the pundits wrong by its sterling performance. This team beat Australia and New Zealand before trouncing Bangladesh on Tuesday to storm into the semi-finals.

The redoubtable Rashid Khan led the way as Afghanistan qualified for semi-finals with an eight-run win over Bangladesh in a rain-hit Super 8 match, adding a golden chapter to their cricketing history that has survived war, political ostracisation and lack of even a base at home.

In the process, Rashid’s maverick team knocked out 2021 champions Australia after having humbled them in their previous Super 8 match. The Afghans will now face South Africa in the last-four stage on June 27.

“It’s unbelievable, I don’t have any words to describe my feelings. Back home, everyone is so happy for this big achievement,” Rashid said in the post-match presentation.

Opting to bat after winning the toss, Afghanistan’s batting stumbled to a below-par 115/5 as Bangladesh bowlers made the most of a tricky pitch, bowling as many as 66 dot balls.

Leg-Spinner Rishad Hossain, 3/26, led the charge while for Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a painstaking 43 off 55 balls.

The match was eventually truncated to 19-overs-a-side due to frequent rain interruptions and Bangladesh was given a revised target on 114.

Afghanistan then showed just why and how they have managed to come this far in international cricket, producing a gritty bowling performance, spearheaded by Rashid (4/23) and pacer Naveen-ul-Haq (4/26). Their heroics ensured a successful and historic defence of the low score as Bangladesh was bowled out for 105 in 17.5 overs.

Litton Das (54 not out) was the lone warrior for Bangladesh in the game that also featured some questionable delaying tactics by the Afghans when they were ahead on DLS par score.

The Afghans’ job was made easy by India, who handed Australia a 24-run defeat last night.

It would not be wrong to say that the Australians have been sent packing from the tournament by India and a team that considers India its home base for the lack of amenities in its strife-ravaged country.

Afghanistan has relied on their opening pair with the bat and bowl to set up their victories and the script was no different on Tuesday.

While Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran forged a crucial 59-run stand with the bat, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen picked up wickets upfront.

Farooqi, who has made a habit of snaring early wickets, did exactly that as he sent Tanzid Hasan (0) packing in the second over which was followed by Naveen’s spectacular over in which the pacer claimed the scalps of Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (5) and Shakib Al-Hasan (0).

Bangladesh were 31/3 when rain halted the proceedings. They resumed play on an aggressive note, clawing their way to 46/3 at the six-over mark.

Rashid then introduced himself and worked his inimitable sorcery. He picked two wickets off his consecutive overs but Bangladesh continued their fearless approach and were ahead on the DLS par score.

However, the Afghan skipper was having none of it and went on to snare two wickets off consecutive balls to also become the fastest to 150 T20 wickets, going past New Zealand’s Tim Southee. When rain started pouring for the umpteenth time and Bangladesh were trailing on the DLS par score.

Afghan coach Jonathan Trott was seen animatedly asking his players to slow down from the dugout and all-rounder Gulbadin Naib went down, apparently complaining of cramps. The sudden breakdown was seen as a delaying tactic and prompted on-air commentator to call him “eighth wonder of the world” for recovering within minutes to begin bowling.

Das remained a thorn in Afghanistan’s side, standing firm and hammering the ball over square leg to bring up his half-century.

However, with wickets falling at the other end, Das was left alone as Naveen returned to remove Bangladesh’s number 9 and 10.

As the players began their emotional celebrations, it marked the beginning of a new era for the team, which has missed out on crucial international exposure due to Australia’s refusal to host it, citing the Taliban takeover and the poor state of women’s rights in the country.

Earlier, opting to bat Afghanistan batters found the going tough with the pitch offering turn and lateral movement.

The pair of Gurbaz and Zadran prioritised their wickets but Bangladesh got their breakthrough in the 11th over as Zadran (18 off 29) attempted to float one over long off. He didn’t get enough bat on it and Hossain claimed his first victim.

With the surface aiding some seam and swing, Bangladesh managed to slow Afghanistan down. Rashid hit two sixes off the last over to steer the Afghans past the 100 run mark.