AP, Canberra :
Mohammad Nabi has come a long way from the refugee camps of central Asia where he, along with other children displaced by war, whiled away the hours playing cricket.
The 30-year-old captain of Afghanistan’s national cricket team knows he will carry the expectations of supporters in his war-torn homeland on Wednesday when he leads his lineup into its first World Cup match in the 50-over format.
The Afghan team goes into the match as underdogs against Bangladesh, which has only been playing among the elite cricket nations for 15 years.
Just getting to compete on the manicured grass of Manuka Oval in the Australian capital Canberra is an achievement against the odds for Nabi’s team. It’s half a world away from the refugee camp where the all-rounder was born in the strife-prone Pakistani city of Peshawar near the Afghan border during the Soviet war with Afghanistan.
Life in the refugee camp was tough, Nabi recalled Tuesday, adding: “You play cricket a lot in refugee camps.”
“I’m very happy to represent Afghanistan in the World Cup,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll enjoy the whole tournament as captain.”
Afghanistan’s British-born coach Andy Moles said while the squad was considered a long-shot to beat the biggest teams in cricket, the Afghan players expected to do well.
“First of all, what impressed me about them was their genuine all-around passion for the game and their genuine desire to win games of cricket,” said Moles, who became head coach in September. “Whoever they play against, they go on the field and they genuinely believe they can win a game of cricket.”
Nabi was not the only player to overcome hardships to find his place in the team.
“It’ been well documented the hardships that the players and the general public have at home all over Afghanistan,” Moles said. Cricket “is a unifying sport, it’s a well-received sport among the population in Afghanistan and the players know that through good performances it will be a massive up-liftment in just the general wellbeing of the country.”
