From practicing in India to ‘Zadraaan Zadraaan’, ‘Rashiiid Rashiiid’ chants from Indian fans, Afghanistan have come a long way.
Fans wearing Indian jerseys chanted ‘Zadraaan, Zadraaan’ as the 21-year-old Ibrahim Zadran, Afghanistan opener made his ODI World Cup century. Afghan supporters came in huge numbers to support their team against the Aussies but amongst 20K (19,597 to be precise) people at Wankhede, it was the Indian fans who stole the show. Zadran got a standing ovation from the fans as the young Afghan became his country’s first World Cup centurion.
With both hands up in the air, he looked towards the crowd and thanked them as the fans raised the decibel levels and cheered for him. A young Indian boy standing in the Sachin Tendulkar stand shouted, “Aaj Afghanistan ko koi nahi rok sakta” (Nobody can stop Afghanistan from winning the game tonight.”)
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Ahead of the match, CricketNext asked a lot of Indians as to why they are supporting Afghanistan in this World Cup to which a fan replied, “Afghanistan are playing wonderfully well and playing some very good cricket. There is support from (Ajay) Jadeja, yesterday Sachin Tendulkar also had a chat with them so we want Afghanistan to win.”
With the hope of seeing Afghanistan in the semis, the fan said, “Given the Afghanistan-Australia match, we want Afghanistan to win as it’ll open up the points table and it will be fun.”
Well, Afghanistan’s win has never been just a matter of joy, it has been a matter of bravery, resilience and fighting all the odds that they face back home.
“We all know Afghanistan’s journey, first they used to play in division 5. They used to play against Italy, and Germany but they slowly and gradually improved themselves and as Indian fans, we always support smaller teams that do well,” said a fan wearing No. 18 Indian jersey who came to support Rashid Khan.
“I have been following Afghanistan since 2010 when they played their first T20 World Cup in South Africa. Afghanistan played well in that tournament and their team has IPL stars like Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, so there is a lot of fan following. I am a Rashid Khan fan so I have come here to support him,” he added.
On Tuesday, Zadran’s century was also not short of struggles. Staying at the crease from the first ball to the last was a tedious task. But Zadran turned a blind eye to Mumbai’s humidity and focused on his triple-digit goal.
The journey from 99 to 100 was as dramatic as the 99 mark in the game of snakes and ladders for him. On the fourth ball of the 44th over, Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood bowled a fuller length delivery outside off, Zadran drove straight to the mid-off fielder – dot! Fifth ball – dot! This time Hazelwood shortened the length outside off and Zadran played straight at backward point. The youngster looked eager to reach the triple-digit mark but was quite calm and composed. It was then the final ball of the 44th over that brought a milestone for the talented youngster. Zadran escaped a run-out on 99 but for now, bygones are bygones as only his century will be scripted in history.
“Against Pakistan, I missed my ton, so I wanted to make it up in this game. I was feeling like I’d get a hundred in the next 3 matches. Wicket is playing well, I passed the message on that we need to target 280-285,” said Zadran, after the innings.
Zadran has been exceptional in the tournament so far. He made 87 against Pakistan but fell short of the century mark. Perhaps, it was Sachin Tendulkar’s pep talk on the eve of the match that resulted in such responsible innings.
“I had a good chat with Sachin Tendulkar yesterday, he shared a lot of his experiences that I can’t express. I’m very thankful to him for sharing his experiences and giving me a lot of confidence,” stated Zadran.
From practising in India to listening to Indian fans roaring for them, Afghanistan has come a long way.
“Afghanistan has risen from ground level to the top. In the last five years, they have worked well. They have qualified for the Champions Trophy 2025 and have got good players like Mujeeb ur Rahman, and senior player Mohammad Nabi, so all are quite good. Allah (God) knows whether they will take the World Cup home or not but they have tackled the top teams,” said a Rashid Khan fan wearing an Indian blue jersey.
He added, “Afghan cricketers are very genuine, they play from the heart. Recently, we saw how one team sent back one batter because of a helmet issue (Angelo Mathews timed out dismissal) but Afghan players are not like that. They show aggression between bat and ball but not between the players.”
“Afghanistan players are very humble in nature and they perform very well. They play gentlemen cricket and they have always played well against the players who are way higher than them but they have played well and have created their fan following in India.”
Comments
0 comment