Afghani 'X-Factor'

Otherwise, South Africa is a team that fails when needed. That's why this Proteus team is called 'Chokers'. Now we are not discussing this team. It is about Afghan cricket. As much as it will be the talk of the world, it will not be said that Afghanistan lost the semi-final badly. Rather, it will be emphasized more than that, Afghanistan played very well in this World Cup, very much. In the

Super-eight, Afghanistan beat a strong Australia and this match will be talked about for a long time. In that match, Afghanistan batted first and scored 148 runs. And then Australia, who are the world champions of both Test and ODI, were reduced to 127 runs. And scored an equally sensational victory against Bangladesh to enter the semi-finals. The win also knocked Australia out of the tournament, almost quietly.

This victory against Australia was not even achieved in the same wind. Had that been the case, Afghanistan would not have defeated New Zealand in the initial league stage. Afghanistan batted first and scored 159 runs. In response to that, New Zealand could only make 75 runs and could not play. Afghanistan was second in Group C which included West Indies. Indeed, this World Cup this time was fun for Afghanistan.

In this way, it has started to be said again and again, how has Afghanistan progressed so much in world cricket in such a short time? Even as Nepalese cricket fans, we were shocked to see this disappearance disappearing before our eyes. Now I can't even touch it. In 2017, Afghanistan became a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Until then, cricket against Afghanistan was nothing.

In 2006, Afghanistan lost to Hong Kong in the semi-finals of the ACC Cup. This is a special tournament, which laid the foundations of cricket in the hearts of the common Afghan sports lovers. When the Afghan team returned home as joint winners of the 2007 ACC T-20, they received a grand welcome. By the time 2018 arrived, Afghanistan had been recognized as a Test team. Especially in T-20 cricket, Afghanistan proved to be excellent.

What happened before and behind it, much has been written, much has been said. Anyone who loves cricket even a little bit knows about it. When we think of Afghanistan, the scenes that come before us are decades of foreign aggression, civil war, poverty, deprivation and the rise of the extremist Taliban. It is said that development in Afghanistan cannot be found far away. On the contrary, under the leadership of the Taliban government, Afghanistan is going behind the times. Afghan cricket continued to progress amid similar impressions. In a country where there is nothing, the development made in cricket by that country has caught everyone's attention. So now it has started to be said, the way Afghanistan has progressed in cricket, it has become a 'model' of development. Now there is no need to say that Afghanistan has done this and that in world cricket. At least in T-20 cricket, this team has become a force in itself.

, so you don't have to be surprised by its victory. Countries like India, Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand are ahead of Afghanistan in T20 cricket. But now Afghanistan is not less than Pakistan, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. On any particular day of T20 cricket, Afghanistan can beat anyone and there is no need to exaggerate, it just happened, the big team wins. More precisely, the Afghan team is no longer an "underdog" not only in T-20, but also in ODIs.

What needs to be discussed is what is the development 'model' of Afghan cricket? Initially, it was Pakistan that nurtured Afghan cricket. Not only in the beginning, most of the Afghan players learned cricket in Pakistani soil. Many more would know and understand cricket while living in Pakistan as refugees.

Today, when Afghanistan cricket consumes Pakistan so much, it has become a different story. While Pakistan cricket itself is on the decline, it is frustrating for him to not get any credit for the Afghan progress. After a while, India has openly supported Afghan cricket. The Indian Cricket Board BCCI allowed Afghanistan to make its own soil their 'home ground' to make it easier for them.

As everyone knows, playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has given Afghan players a lot of benefits, like name, money and experience. Again, Afghan cricket itself has also worked very hard. Only in the year 2001, the Afghanistan Cricket Board was established. Since then it has had good leadership. And this leadership has done the right thing. The strategy has also been well prepared. Age group cricket has received equal attention.

Two strengths of Afghan cricket are precise spin attack and aggressive batting. Afghanistan has put a lot of emphasis on both of these. And, Afghan cricket has also got a suitable foreign coach when needed. We also need a technical team to explain cricket by adapting it to modern cricket, that too foreign. Afghanistan has also done a clever job in this regard. The current T20 World Cup coach is English, his name is Jonathan Trott.

and, the main thing. It is said that Afghan cricket and its players have a bit more, the 'X factor'. This 'X factor' works very well in sports. There is a special element in sports that makes it special when there is nothing special. All the players are almost the same, 19-20. But what makes one player a little more special than another is that they have an extraordinary ability to do something special. Even though the Afghan players are good, they have a lot of 'X factor' in them.

How is this possible? Many have the same understanding about this. Many Afghans really only saw suffering, never experienced happiness. Lack, spent more in haste. That's why Afghan cricket also gave a lot to itself, against which to play aggressively. If you look closely, it seems that the Afghan players are a bit more aggressive. Plays with a lot of energy and tries to put the opposition players under as much pressure as possible. Similarly, the team did not reach the semi-finals of the T-20 World Cup, who will?