Asia Cup: From Guns To Cricket Bats, The Afghan Story Will Melt Your Heart Khaleej Times

Shyam Bhatia, the Dubai-based Indian businessman and an evergreen cricketing romantic who never misses a chance to reach the far-flung corners of the world to promote the sport, draws a blank when you ask him about the identity of the person who sent him the most heartwarming message.

It was 2007 and Afghanistan had just shared the honours with Oman as joint winners of the ACC Twenty20 Cup, an important tournament for the Asia's associate members of the ICC (International Cricket Council).

It was a milestone win in cricket for a war-ravaged country whose national team mostly featured players who learned the game at refugee camps in Pakistan.

Spurred on by that story, Bhatia decided to do his bit by sending cricket kits to kids in Afghanistan.

“There was no way I could have sent the kits from Dubai, so I got them airlifted from India,” Bhatia, 82, recalled.

A few days later, Bhatia received a message from Afghanistan.

“I still can't remember the name of the person; he was in the Afghanistan Cricket Board. He said, 'All these days our children have seen only guns, now they have seen cricket bats. This is a beautiful encouragement for them to play cricket'.”

Afghanistan have come a long way since then, earning the Test status, reaching a World Cup semifinal and producing a string of highly talented youngsters.

Bhatia's heart swells with pride when he sees Afghanistan take giant strides in cricket.

“I have seen a lot of associate teams in the past; they do well and then slowly fade away. I remember Kenya was a good team at one stage, then you had Ireland, and the Netherlands. Even the UAE did well in the 1990s. But the difference between those teams and Afghanistan is that the Afghans are hungry,” said Bhatia, who was felicitated by the ICC during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India for his contributions to the growth of the game in countries like Japan and Ukraine.

“Now it's so beautiful to see Afghanistan play so well in big tournaments. These players are so motivated to do well at the highest level.”

Key to consistency

Despite the big pool of talent, Afghanistan struggled for consistency on the international stage until former England batsman Jonathan Trott took over as the head coach in July 2022.

There was also an element of uncertainty over the future of the game following the return of the Taliban in 2021.

Facing a huge challenge, Trott decided to focus on what was under his control - the players.

He was struck by the raw talent, but what they lacked was discipline.

“It's been a lot of hard work behind the scenes. When I took over, I saw so much talent, but also something that would catch my eye. I'd be watching the nets, and someone would do something, but would do it inconsistently,” Trott told the Khaleej Times during an interview.

“First thing I said, 'we've got to train better'. So, we started working very hard on the players, their training and fitness, and then suddenly the victories started coming. You know, even today, I'm still pushing our spinners to be better at what they do.”

They may have lost the tri-series final to Pakistan by a big margin in Sharjah, but Afghanistan remains a dark horse in the Asia Cup, which gets underway in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday with Rashid Khan's team taking on Hong Kong in the opener.

But Trott stays grounded when asked about the team's chances.

“I don't set goals because then you start looking too far ahead. All we do is focus on the next game,” he said.

“If you start looking too far ahead, you make mistakes!”

But one man who will be backing them to win almost every game is Bhatia.

“I don't normally watch T20 cricket, I am an old school cricket lover,” he said.

“But I will be rooting for Afghanistan in every game - but not when they are playing India!”

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