Asian cricket may not be the same again after the President of Afghanistan has given his accent to set up first ever cricket board in Afghanistan. The President Hamid Karzai made this announcement during the course of meeting with the cricket team. Cricket has been given an international recognition in Afghanistan after the Taliban regime was thrown away in 2001.
The step to initiate Afghanistan into the mainstream was initiated after it was accorded the ODI status for the first time earlier this year when the war-torn country finished in the top six of the 2011 World Cup qualifying event. Buoyed by this recognition the country has set its next target of having a go at the 2010
World Twenty20 championships in October.
The passion for the game of cricket is what has made it possible and has been the catalytic factor for the meteoric rise for cricket, which took grounding in recent years. International Cricket Council must thank Pakistan for the same. The passion for game of cricket was ignited between the Afghanistan's while they were living as refugees in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan from where they picked up the nuances of the game. Once the refugees returned to their native country they picked up the game and adapted to it like fish to water.
Interestingly enough, the game of cricket in Afghanistan was initially being funded through the country's government-funded National Olympic Committee, the regulatory authority vested with the responsibility and management of all major sports in the country. There was a protracted demand from the cricket team for creation of its own structure. It was on account of the frequent complains about its lack of budget and facilities, which were woefully short of those of other cricketing nations.
The initiative is an indicator about the fact that when politics is not able to provide solution to strife, sports guide the way. It also reminds of the favorite Airtel campaign that was shot in a strife torn Palestinian nation where two boys desired to play football, but the fencing of the boundary did not allow them to do so. The passion for the game however was such that they scaled the walls and went on to play. This is the reach of sports, and may be it may help Afghanistan turn a new leaf as well.
