http://indianexpress.com/article/sp...nsure-afghanistan-emerges-on-ipl-map-4535313/
“SUNRISERS HYDERABAD is now officially Afghanistan’s home team in the IPL. By picking our boys they have ensured that they have an entire cricket-mad nation supporting them,” says Shafiq Stanikzai, the Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO, making no attempt to tone down his elation.
‘Dreams do come true’ — it says in big bold letters on the homepage of the most popular among the hundreds of Afghanistan Cricket fan-clubs on Facebook. It’s the day two of their own, veteran Mohammad Nabi and wonder-kid Rashid Khan have dropped the pin — to borrow from smart-phone lingo — on their cricketing El Dorado. They are now IPL cricketers, having been picked up by Sunrisers with the 18-year-old Rashid earning a Rs 4 crore-worth validation to his tag of being one of the most exciting young cricketers in world cricket. And it’s left the whole of Afghanistan on its feet.
While the hordes of cricket fans have been sitting in front of their television sets for their dose of IPL mania over the last few years, the auction wasn’t an event that ever captured their imagination. But on Monday, it wasn’t just the Afghanistan cricketers, away in Zimbabwe for an ODI tour, who were sitting with bated breath in front of their screens — TV, laptop or I-pad. It didn’t start well with skipper Asghar Stanikzai going unsold. And according to Shafiq, there was a sense of “are we being a bit too ambitious”.
Then came Nabi, the dependable and versatile all-rounder, who’s been among the most economical bowlers in the T20 world with his off-spin in addition to being among the most explosive with the bat, basically the complete package. Even if it was for his base price of Rs 30 lakh, Nabi had broken the barrier.
“The IPL is the biggest league in the world. For us to have one of our senior-most players become the first-ever pick was just out of this world. I could sense the whole nation rising as one to celebrate the moment,” says the CEO.
Even better
But it was about to get a lot better soon when Rashid’s name went up. The leg-spinning all-rounder has in many ways revolutionized limited-overs cricket for his country despite having exploded on to the scene less than two years ago. There’s hardly been an Afghanistan win that he hasn’t played a starring role in, and at a base-price of Rs. 50 lakh, he seemed a good buy. By the time the hammer went down though, Rashid was worth eight times of that.
“If people weren’t celebrating already, every time the paddle went up for Rashid, there were loud cheers that were heard across the nation, and eventually people were on the streets. See, both Nabi and Rashid, who hails from near Jalalabad, have played in the BPL and PSL and done well, but this is the IPL, the ultimate,” says Shafiq.
Rashid was first spotted at a Grade 3-level domestic game only 18 months ago, and was soon drafted into the national U-19 team. Before long, he was winning matches for the nation at the senior level, like he might soon be doing with the defending IPL champions.
“For the record, in his first first-class game he picked up 12 wickets and scored over 100 runs, and this was against a strong England Lions team,” adds Shafiq.
Having two of their own to cheer for in the IPL will only strengthen Afghanistan cricket’s bond with India, which has only strengthened in recent times. India has become their home away from home with the team setting up base in Greater Noida and already having hosted a number of international teams there. It’s also become a great destination for their players to come and enhance their skills. Left-arm pacer Shapoor Zadran for one will be in Mumbai working on his skills with the local coaches.
They’ve also seen a number of former Indian cricketers play mentor and coaching roles with the team. Manoj Prabhakar has done it in the past and Venkatpathy Raju too has coached Afghanistan. While most of their support at Noida comes from the Afghan students in the area, local support too is building with their matches seeing decent crowds of late.
But come April, it’ll be the Afghanis, reveals Shafiq, who will be traveling in big numbers to Hyderabad to support ‘their’ Indian franchise in the biggest T20 league in the world.
“SUNRISERS HYDERABAD is now officially Afghanistan’s home team in the IPL. By picking our boys they have ensured that they have an entire cricket-mad nation supporting them,” says Shafiq Stanikzai, the Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO, making no attempt to tone down his elation.
‘Dreams do come true’ — it says in big bold letters on the homepage of the most popular among the hundreds of Afghanistan Cricket fan-clubs on Facebook. It’s the day two of their own, veteran Mohammad Nabi and wonder-kid Rashid Khan have dropped the pin — to borrow from smart-phone lingo — on their cricketing El Dorado. They are now IPL cricketers, having been picked up by Sunrisers with the 18-year-old Rashid earning a Rs 4 crore-worth validation to his tag of being one of the most exciting young cricketers in world cricket. And it’s left the whole of Afghanistan on its feet.
While the hordes of cricket fans have been sitting in front of their television sets for their dose of IPL mania over the last few years, the auction wasn’t an event that ever captured their imagination. But on Monday, it wasn’t just the Afghanistan cricketers, away in Zimbabwe for an ODI tour, who were sitting with bated breath in front of their screens — TV, laptop or I-pad. It didn’t start well with skipper Asghar Stanikzai going unsold. And according to Shafiq, there was a sense of “are we being a bit too ambitious”.
Then came Nabi, the dependable and versatile all-rounder, who’s been among the most economical bowlers in the T20 world with his off-spin in addition to being among the most explosive with the bat, basically the complete package. Even if it was for his base price of Rs 30 lakh, Nabi had broken the barrier.
“The IPL is the biggest league in the world. For us to have one of our senior-most players become the first-ever pick was just out of this world. I could sense the whole nation rising as one to celebrate the moment,” says the CEO.
Even better
But it was about to get a lot better soon when Rashid’s name went up. The leg-spinning all-rounder has in many ways revolutionized limited-overs cricket for his country despite having exploded on to the scene less than two years ago. There’s hardly been an Afghanistan win that he hasn’t played a starring role in, and at a base-price of Rs. 50 lakh, he seemed a good buy. By the time the hammer went down though, Rashid was worth eight times of that.
“If people weren’t celebrating already, every time the paddle went up for Rashid, there were loud cheers that were heard across the nation, and eventually people were on the streets. See, both Nabi and Rashid, who hails from near Jalalabad, have played in the BPL and PSL and done well, but this is the IPL, the ultimate,” says Shafiq.
Rashid was first spotted at a Grade 3-level domestic game only 18 months ago, and was soon drafted into the national U-19 team. Before long, he was winning matches for the nation at the senior level, like he might soon be doing with the defending IPL champions.
“For the record, in his first first-class game he picked up 12 wickets and scored over 100 runs, and this was against a strong England Lions team,” adds Shafiq.
Having two of their own to cheer for in the IPL will only strengthen Afghanistan cricket’s bond with India, which has only strengthened in recent times. India has become their home away from home with the team setting up base in Greater Noida and already having hosted a number of international teams there. It’s also become a great destination for their players to come and enhance their skills. Left-arm pacer Shapoor Zadran for one will be in Mumbai working on his skills with the local coaches.
They’ve also seen a number of former Indian cricketers play mentor and coaching roles with the team. Manoj Prabhakar has done it in the past and Venkatpathy Raju too has coached Afghanistan. While most of their support at Noida comes from the Afghan students in the area, local support too is building with their matches seeing decent crowds of late.
But come April, it’ll be the Afghanis, reveals Shafiq, who will be traveling in big numbers to Hyderabad to support ‘their’ Indian franchise in the biggest T20 league in the world.
