Cricket is not just a game for Afghanistan. What else can he find strength in with Australia? It happens in cricket. Afghanistan defeated Australia in the Super Eight match of Twenty20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday. This is the first time Afghanistan have beaten Australia in any format of cricket.

So for Afghanistan, cricket is more than a game. The 21-run win in St. Louis has also brought the entire tournament to life. In that match, Afghanistan batted first and scored 148 runs for six wickets. After that Australia was reduced to 27 runs. The match itself was thrilling, as the win came only in the last over.

Had Australia won this match, the semi-final equation would have been complete. Australia and India could have reached the final four, the result of the final match of all the teams did not have to wait. In that situation, Afghanistan had no other option but to return home soon. But the situation has taken a dramatic turn. Now Australia will have to beat India if they want to reach the semi-finals. In Group-One, India has four points while Australia and Afghanistan have two points each. Bangladesh has not been able to open the score account. Afghanistan's last match is against Bangladesh, so all possibilities remain. The hero of this historic victory of Afghanistan was Gulbadin Naib.

He took four wickets for 20 runs in four overs. It is hard to believe, Afghanistan used, was the eighth bowler. Australia got off to a poor start and at one point were in a poor position of 32 runs for three wickets. Australia performed strongly from that situation. But just when it looked like Australia would do something, Naib took the wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Tim David. Later Glenn Maxwell also took the wicket and it was really valuable. This Australian batsman completed his fifty in 35 balls. After scoring 59 runs, he became a victim of Naib. Later he also took the wicket of Ashton Agar. Before his performance, Pat Cousins' hat-trick in the Afghan innings was lost.

This was a game that will be talked about for a long time. And this is such a victory, which once again proved that Afghanistan is not the same team as before. At least Afghanistan is second to none in T20. On a particular day Afghanistan 

Whoever can be beaten in Twenty20 cricket, no need to wait for a special day. Why such victories are becoming possible if Afghanistan has players like Naib. And his story is also unique in itself and it also says a lot about Afghan cricket. He was the 'player of the match' in the victory against Australia. He says, "This victory has a special meaning for Afghanistan and its people. We have been waiting for such a historic turning point for a long time. This is a great achievement for Afghanistan cricket.

Naib's journey so far in international cricket is also unique in itself. More than that is incredible. Naib did not know that there was even a country called Afghanistan for 11 years. He didn't even know who he was or where he came from. Like many Afghans, he grew up in Pakistan, as a refugee in the city of Peshawar. Only when he was a little older did he begin to understand and take interest in his country. One of the advantages of staying in Peshawar was that Naib could enjoy playing cricket there. For teenagers like him inside the refugee camp, cricket was the only escape from the daily grind. A documentary about Afghan cricket was made more than a decade ago and it was called 'Out of the Aces'. A 17-year-old Naib also appears in it. He was a non-professional body-builder at that time. The documentary shows how cricket has progressed in a war-torn Afghanistan. At that time, Afghanistan was playing ICC World Cricket League Division Five. The winner of that tournament in Jersey was also Afghanistan and the captain was Naib. Later he also became the captain of the team that played in the 2019 ODI World Cup. Even during the same tournament, he said, 'Cricket is not just a game for us. Cricket has brought common Afghans together. Let's believe, there will be peace in Afghanistan forever and cricket will develop more.'