Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan (PTI Photo) Afghanistan’s cricketers have toured continents, lifted trophies and earned global acclaim, but one deeply personal ambition remains unfulfilled – the chance to play an international match on home soil. For Rashid Khan, that absence still outweighs any silverware collected abroad. Decades of conflict have meant that Afghanistan have never hosted a full international match in Kabul. Due to repeatedly damaged infrastructure and ongoing security concerns, the team was forced to accept overseas locations as temporary homes. At various stages, Greater Noida, Dehradun and Lucknow in India along with Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates served as Afghanistan’s de facto bases.
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Despite his long exile, Rashid refuses to give up on his dream. “Yes, it’s bigger than the World Cup to be honest, for me and the team and every individual. We play an international match in Afghanistan and then all these people see how the people back home in Afghanistan are and how they welcome the players and how they enjoy cricket and that’s something that is more than a dream to play international cricket in your own country,” Teve Rashid told World on the Afghani website. Cup match against New Zealand. The Afghanistan captain acknowledged the affection the team receives wherever it travels, especially during the IPL stints, but stressed that there is nothing like playing in front of your own people. “When we play the IPL here (in India), when we play an international game, we see how much their international stars are supported by the local fans and how much love they give them, like we get so much love, I’m not saying we don’t have that love. “Whenever we play here, we get a lot of love and support, especially playing in the IPL and also the World Cup we played (2023), we didn’t feel like we were away from Afghanistan. But when you play in your own country, it’s a little different feeling and the world will also see the country of Afghanistan, how beautiful it is. But hopefully one day we can make it possible to play there and they can play an international team there.” Apart from the absence of domestic internationals, Rashid highlighted another structural challenge – the lack of a robust domestic cricket ecosystem. He admitted that identifying talent is increasingly difficult without regular white-ball competitions. “We don’t have a lot of cricket in Afghanistan, especially the shorter format. We have four-day cricket but not a lot of white-ball cricket and then it becomes very difficult for you as a captain to pick a team because you don’t have as many options as in India where there are a lot of tournaments every day and you see a lot of talent,” he said. According to Rashid, what Afghan cricket lacks most is sustained competition, something he believes is essential for growth. “What we lack at the moment is competition. When you have competition, you will try your best. Any spinner from Afghanistan who wants to play for Afghanistan will know that he will have to compete with Rashid, compete with Noor or Mujeeb. The target is set very high and I also have to work very hard.” “I feel that when we get that kind of competition in batting as well, we will go to another level. But it only comes when you have very strong domestic cricket, you have a lot of competition at home, you can get talent there and I hope we focus more on our domestic cricket. But whatever you see on TV, it’s all just natural talent,” he said. Rashid also expressed his desire to see Afghan women cricketers represented on the international stage, while acknowledging that such decisions lie outside the player’s control. “I feel like that’s the kind of criteria for, I think, being a full member. So the ICC, the Afghanistan Cricket Board, they have a better idea. But we like to see somebody represent Afghanistan on any stage, it’s a proud moment. But I think it’s all about the decision that the ACB and the ICC make, sometimes the things that we have control over and those things that we have control over, we think that we have control over those things.” “But in this situation, we’re in a situation where you can’t really have a lot of say in it, but yes, the support that you have there is always there, but bigger people will come in and make a decision and move it forward,” he said.
