Sharjah Cricket Stadium on September 7, 2022. It is the Asia Cup 2022 Super Four encounter between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan, having won against India previously, now need to beat Afghanistan to secure a place in the final.
It is the 19th over and Pakistan batter Asif Ali is on a roll, having just hit a six on Afghan bowler, Fareed Ahmad’s delivery, bringing his score to 16 runs off 8 balls. Pakistan now needs 12 runs off 8 balls – a do-or-die situation for both teams. At this crucial point, Ahmad takes Ali’s wicket. It is an exciting moment in the match.
And then, without reason or warning, things become ugly. As Ali walks off toward the pavilion, Ahmad intercepts him, up close, with a provocative, taunting stance and utters some inappropriate remarks, incensing Ali, who raises his bat as a warning. Now let’s take a step back.
An exciting part of this gentleman’s game, particularly the T20 matches, is the boundaries and sixes. On average 8 runs an over is seen as a competitive and fighting total. That the team on the bat was hitting toward this fighting total so it could ensure being in the final, should not have been a surprise. That the fielding team should use all their skill to avoid being hit sixes and boundaries is also exactly as it should be. What space is there in this for offensive words and actions?
What makes a bowler lose his cool even though the attempted sixer hit on his delivery has been caught out? What makes him swear at the outgoing batsman? Certainly, it was a tense moment in the game for both teams – but it was still a game.
The only plausible reason seems to be a lack of understanding of the spirit of the game of cricket in particular, as well as a lack of sportsmanship in general. It is unfortunate that the young and upcoming cricketers, acquiring at exceptional levels the hard skills required to play the game, are failing to learn the soft skills required to lose or win with grace and dignity. No matter how well the game is played, without assimilating its spirit, excellence in the sport will always elude the players, and the honor of the nations they so proudly represent will always be at risk.
Having said that, I find it necessary to go into the history of the promotion of the game around the world.
Team Afghanistan qualifying to enter Asia Cup 2022 made a good beginning by beating Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in their first encounter. From there they went on, by the end of pool matches, to enter into the Super Four of the tournament along with the more experienced teams of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, which are three of the 8 Test playing Nations recognized by the ICC.
I can trace the birth of this impressive achievement by Team Afghanistan back to 1987. It was during the time of the Reliance World Cup 1987, under the management of the Indo-Pakistan Joint Management Committee (IPJMC), and then later during the Wills World Cup 1996, under the management of Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka (PILCOM) that we (I was a member of both IPJMC & PILCOM) provided promotional funds to enlist Associate Members to be recognized by the ICC. The game of Cricket was thus promoted in 20 countries, including Afghanistan.
It is interesting to note that cricket became popular amongst Afghans living in the refugee camps in Pakistan in the 1990s. Cricket being as popular as it is in Pakistan, it is of course of little surprise that Afghan camps just outside Peshawar saw plenty of cricket action. The Afghan cricket board was formed in 1995, and the national team was established in 2001. Since then their progress has been phenomenal appearing in the first World T20 in 2010 rubbing shoulders with the big boys like India and South Africa. They played their first ODI with Pakistan in 2012. More recently, 20 Afghanistan cricketers applied to play in Pakistan Super League 2021 (of whom only 5 top players were bought by franchisees).
The point is - Team Afghanistan has had a great and laudable progression in the game in a fairly short space of time. Technically the team has acquired skills in each and every area of the game, assisted by Pakistan and India, who have afforded their players the opportunity of playing at different levels and rubbing shoulders with the experienced in the game.
With this background – from the introduction to the game in the refugee camps in Pakistan to the vying for a spot in the Pakistan Super League – the tantrum thrown by the Afghan boys against Pakistan smells especially foul. Cricket is the game of gentlemen and lets us all behave like gentlemen, keeping the sportsman spirit alive all the time.
The writer is the author of Another Perspective- history of Pakistan Cricket 1977-1998
The untold story of development.
