The Afghan Dream

I had blogged about Afghanistan’s dream run in cricket over the last one year and how they are now in the Super Eights of the ICC World Cricket League (The top four teams qualify for the 2011 World Cup).

A good friend from Boston, Sanjeev Naik and me, have been tracking Afghanistan over the course of the tournament. We have been shameless, publicly rooting for them. However, their dream of making it to the World Cup may be over has they have virtually no chance of making it to the top four (they might just end up fifth or sixth in the Super 8).

We have uncovered a few links and some fascinating stories about the Afghan journey.

Out of the Ashes

Leslie Knott, Tim Albone and Lucy Martens are producing a documentary on the entire Afghanistan journey. The film is called “Out of the Ashes”. It started in May 2008 at the Division 5 tournament in Jersey (one of the Channel Islands). Afghanistan won that tournament receiving the prize from Geoffrey Boycott himself. Then they won Division 4 in Tanzania, Division 3 in Argentina and qualified for the ICC World Cricket League (in effect Division 2).

From the story written by Leslie on Cricinfo (link courtesy Sanjeev), a few quotes

One Briton, a Canadian, a girl from Germany, and 11 Afghanistan cricketers: it’s an odd mix, but that is what it took to make Out of the Ashes, a documentary following the Afghanistan team on their quest for World Cup qualification.

…

“Not only are we going to bring the cup back from Jersey in Division Five,” declared Taj Malik, the first coach of the team, in May 2008, “but we are also going to the World Cup.” It was a far-fetched statement. Afghanistan have no pitch and only a handful of ramshackle batting cages. There is a bowling machine, but power is intermittent at best in Kabul.

…

The players are all gentlemen. Ahmad Shah, the former left-arm spinner and now assistant coach, makes sure we have been served lunch before he eats. They also have an eye for beauty, and covet flowers, especially roses.

The website of the production team has a trailer of the documentary but in Apple Quicktime format. I didn’t have the patience to download the plug-in and watch it. However, I went through the photographs and this photo gives you an idea of how even with the worst facilities they have had their success just on the basis of their spirit. (Even smallest cricket grounds in Mumbai have much better turf conditions)

(Courtesy: Outoftheashes.tv)

Hamid Hassan

Hamid Hassan is their star bowler. He learnt his reverse swing from Freddie Flintoff, smashed Monty Panesar’s helmet with a 152kph ball and writes a blog on Cricinfo. Will Luke goes almost teary eyed as he writes about him in an article in Cricinfo:

For a young man, he has already achieved the sort of dreams that many of his peers in Afghanistan might dismiss as outlandishly ambitious. Even foolish. Not only has he visited Europe and stayed in “lovely, lovely” Britain, he has reached cricketing nirvana by playing at Lord’s. His aspirations jut as high as the rocky peaks of Bati’Kot in the eastern province of Nangarhar, near Jalalabad, where he grew up.

…

Like all parents, Hamid’s only want what is best for their son. They may not know or care that he learned reverse swing from one of his heroes. And his mother would certainly be more alarmed than proud that one of her sons nearly broke toes of several opposing batsmen a couple of years ago.

…

“I want to be a future big international cricketer. I want the world to know me, to be famous. ‘Look, it’s Hamid,’ they might say.”

Great ambitions, this is one team I don’t mind having them play official international cricket. Cricket needs such teams that play with passion and pride.

From the Rubble

Afghanistan and Iraq are two countries reduced to rubble. Life is lived in ruins. Civil amenities and basic supplies are hard to get. This is besides the violence and unrest prevalent in those parts. Yet three  stories of hope.

The Afghanistan Cricket Team

The Afghanistan cricket team is currently participating in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa. Four teams will qualify for the 2011 World Cup scheduled in the sub-continent (however, that is up for debate given the current security scenario). Wherefrom have they come? Afghanistan is not known for cricket. Of course the British, Indian and Pakistani influence may be there but for local Afghanis to give up their football and buzkhasi is quite a thing to be amazed at.

What is even more amazing is their abilities in the game. Till last year, they were in the ICC Division 5. Today they have crossed three Divisions to play in the Qualifiers in effect Division 2, one level lower than the regular nations.

Hameed Hasan, fast bowler for the Afghans writes in his blog for Cricinfo:

It is our dream to play in the World Cup and we are hoping to do the best we can in this tournament.

The tournament is in South Africa in parallel to the RSA v AUS contest and Hameed writes about sharing rooms in the same hotel as the Australians:

We had spent the weekend in Johannesburg, where we were staying in the same hotel complex as the Australian and South African teams, which was amazing. I managed to see quite a few famous players including Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin.

As of today, they have two wins against Denmark and Bermuda. There are 12 teams in two groups of six. The top four from each group head into the Super Eights. The top four qualify for the World Cup. The favourites, on virtue of their relative pedigree, are Kenya, Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland. However, as Will Luke on Cricinfo, reporting on the Afghanistan v Bermuda match earlier today, says

Afghanistan’s unquenchable confidence drove them unerringly to a convincing 60-run win over Bermuda, who were condemned to their second loss in as many days. Afghanistan batted aggressively, fielded with agility and bowled with impressive discipline throughout.

[...]

There was little question which team was the hungrier, and Afghanistan’s second win on the trot ought to serve as an acute reminder of their fearlessness and ability.

Afghanistan wins a medal in the Olympics

Another major sporting jewel was last year at the Beijing Olympics when Afghanistan won its first ever medal with Rohullah Nikpai in Taekwondo.  This archived article in Yahoo writes about the struggle

When Gayezabi met Nikpai, they were both living at a refugee camp in Iran during the years of war that embroiled Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. The two competed together on a refugee taekwondo team.
Nikpai came to Kabul four years ago, Gayezabi said. In the mornings he lifted weights and in the evenings he practiced martial arts. In between he earned money cutting hair as a barber.
With success came better training conditions. After being selected for the national team six months ago, he was able to use a special gymnasium.
But in a country where sports take a distant place behind the realities of war, few resources are dedicated to training athletes.
“My training situation is a lot like the situation in my country,” Nikpai said. “It’s not good.”

The Iraqi Football Team

During the days of Saddam Hussein, his son Uday was the chief of Iraqi football. He had a simple reward system for his players. According to wikipedia and this article in The Age, this was the Dark Generation

Motivational speeches: “Players’ legs will be cut off”
Missing practice: Prison terms
Own goals / Missed Penalties: Flogging with thorns
Losses: Flogging with electric cables; baths in raw sewage

In 1996, Iraq was ranked 139 in the world, compared to a ranking of 39 in 2004. It was one of the top teams in Asia in the Eighties.

Saddam Hussein and the war that followed played havoc. Local leagues were disrupted, Iraqi players were busy protecting themselves. Inspite of all this, the game continued. The successes of the struggle came.

1. In 2004 Athens Olympics, they came fourth
2. In 2006 Asian Games, they took the silver
3. In 2007 AFC Asian Cup, they took the trophy

This made them the Team of the Year across various fora.

Afghanistan and Iraq doing well in sports – Can it sustainably raise the spirits of the two nations?

Dada to drive home

After 16 years of fighting everyone – from Australians to Indian cricket pundits, Dada has finally decided to drive away from the test cricket pitch. It is a sad day indeed and would be obviously sadder when the actual day finally lands – possibly the fifth day of the Nagpur test in November.

His esteemed rival, Steve Waugh brought the entire SCG crowd to tears overshadowing what had been an engrossing series in 2003-4. What would be the farewell for Dada? Usha Uthup singing an elegy? Sachin saying a few words? Harbhajan Singh doing a bhangra? Flintoff taking his shirt out and swirling it around? We have to simply wait and see?

India’s loss is Shahrukh’s gain – he now gets Dada to completely focus on the Kolkata Knight Riders and justifying his multi-crore salary.

For me, Dada can be remembered for five things (both positive and negative)

Note: This is a random order

1. Dropping out of the Nagpur test match in 2004 – on getting a green top, Ganguly claimed back injury and dropped out, apparently peeved with the nature of the pitch and the lack of response from the groundsmen. As a captain (and given his immense stature), this was not done.

2. Fostering a new generation – Taking over the captaincy from Sachin Tendulkar in 2000, his tenure began with the match fixing bomb – senior players banned, many Ranji Trophy regulars under doubt, general credibility of Indian cricket shattered. Investing in new, untested players and backing them to the hilt required a boldness and belief of a different order – Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag gave him and India great ROI (and continue to do so). Like all investors, there were some which did not sustain – Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Mongia, S Ramesh, Shiv Sunder Das to name a few. 

3. His off side play – Enough has been said about his off side. One still remembers the look on Jacques Kallis’ face (South Africa series 2001-2 in South Africa – the Mark Denness series) as he peppered a 7-2 off side field with square cuts and square drives

4. Intentionality –  There are many things he does / did / does not / did not that will anger or annoy the cricket coach, purists and the pundits – be it his work rate, fitness regimen, attitude, etc. However, whenever he pulled himself and focused on something, it just magically would work for him – the century at Lord’s (after being written off by Sunil Gavaskar as a quota selection and not fit to be in the team; he got in at the expense of Sanjay Manjrekar or Vinod Kambli if I remember right, a Mumbai player anyway); the 144 in Brisbane (2003-4); the 87* against Kings XI Punjab; the comeback into team after the Greg Chappell enforced vacation in 2005-2006; 

5. Straight lofted six off Muralitharan – He may been dismissed by Murali many times but when he hits Murali for six, it is a sight to behold – Jumping down the pitch and timing to perfection. Even in the recent lousy series against Sri Lanka, one got to see one such six. A pity, he could not do more of them.

Anyway, as far as Indian cricket is concerned, it’s one down, five to go. Any guesses when is Tendulkar’s turn?

Gold at last for India

This might be the day that non-cricket sports lovers of India were waiting for. After 28 long years, finally we win a gold at the Olympic Games, courtesy Abhinav Bindra in shooting. We also lost the test series in Sri Lanka. So success in shooting (non-cricket), defeat in cricket.

And is Leander-Mahesh and the other shooters can add a bit more joy, we may have something going. There’s also the Indian football team playing in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup against Tajikistan with more than a decent chance of winning. It may not rival the highest standards in football, but for the level that we are in, reaching a final of an international tournament is an achievement for a success starved nation. It can’t get worse than this. So winning anything is a start for better things to happen.

Back in 1983, when India won the World Cup at Lord’s, in hockey we had that debacle at the 1982 Asian Games which continued in the World Cup. So while cricket went up in India, hockey was on its way down.

Today, it’s up to our “esteemed” sports administrators to make the most of it.