He learned Hindi from Bachchan, now Afghanistan’s Sharafuddin is commentating in India
Sharafuddin Shakir began his commentary in Hindi for Sony Sports, the official broadcaster of Afghanistan’s “home series” against India, aware that the voice emanating from the microphone was being heard by a much larger audience than he was used to back home in Afghanistan. The legendary Gavaskar, sitting next to him in the commentary box at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, watched him closely.
Then came the thumbs up.
It was a small gesture, but Shakir noticed.
“He gave me a thumbs up and indicated ‘You speak Hindi so well!’ You could see the appreciation on his face,” recalled Shakir in his chat with IndiaToday.in.
There is something almost circular at this point. Shakir grew up in Afghanistan and watched Indian cricket on television. Now, sitting in India’s commentary box, he spoke a language he had acquired primarily from watching Indian films as a boy, while Gavaskar listened.
It has been quite a journey for the Afghan commentator.
If you heard an unfamiliar voice on the Hindi commentary during the Afghanistan-India Friendship Cup in Delhi, it belonged to Shakir, who traveled to India for the series. He has been commentating in Pashto for about 15 years, but this assignment offered something he had wanted to experience for a long time: doing Hindi commentary in India for Indian audiences.
He was making his second trip to the country. His first came in 2017 when he worked on the Hindi commentary for the Afghanistan vs Ireland series for Doordarshan.
This time the setup was different. So are the names around him.
Sanjay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar and Ajay Jadeja were among those who shared the commentary box.
“I was also in the commentary box with Jadeja,” Shakir said.
“I told him there was a time when we only wished to see you. But today God has brought a day where I sit with you, see you and comment beside you.”
Shakir is not someone who got into commentary through the conventional broadcasting route. He played cricket in Afghanistan at domestic level, though never first-class cricket. He studied political science at Avicenna University in Kabul and later joined the Afghanistan Cricket Board, where his career spanned several roles: from Head of the CEO’s Office to HR, Media, Deputy Spokesperson, Game Development and Home Department.
He has also completed level 1 coaching through the Emirates Cricket Board with ICC certified instructors.
All of this found its way into his commentary.
LEARNING HINDI FROM BOLLYWOOD
Photos of India Today
But if cricket gave Shakira his calling, Bollywood helped give him his Hindi. He watched Hindi movies since childhood. In Afghanistan, Indian cinema was not some distant cultural curiosity. It was part of growing up.
Ask him how he learned to speak Hindi so comfortably and he goes back to movies.
“People don’t just watch cricket; Hindi films are also watched with great love,” he said.
One film in particular stuck with him: Khuda GawahAmitabh Bachchan starrer from 1992, which was partially shot in Afghanistan.
Bachchan’s presence in Kabul and the film’s portrayal of Afghanistan left an impression on Shakir and many others. He remembers the film almost as a cultural bridge, one of the things that helped Afghans get to know India long before he even sat in the Indian commentary box.
Therefore, his love for Bachchan is not just that of a Bollywood fan admiring the famous actor.
“He also came to Kabul,” Shakir said, referring to Bachchan. “There was shooting there, just like in Kunduz province, Baghlan and other provinces.”
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From Amitabh Bachchan movies to calling T20 matches in Hindi, Sharafuddin Shakir shares the story behind his journey into Hindi and Pashto commentary!
Catch #AFGvIND 3. T20I LIVE NOW on Sony pic.twitter.com/ESI4zGazgW— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) September 17, 2026
Now Shakir was alone in India and carried that connection in another direction.
“A Pathan from Kabul is doing Hindi commentary on Indian soil,” he said with obvious pride.
His journey began much more modestly.
Shakir first picked up the microphone to commentate on Pashto radio after a friend insisted he had the voice and cricketing skills to do so. What started as encouragement from a friend ended up being a career spanning roughly 15 years.
He also became a podcast host in Afghanistan, adding another layer to his media work.
GROWING UP WITH INDIAN CRICKET
But the love of cricket came before all that.
As a boy, Shakir watched India play at a time when Afghanistan did not yet have a team capable of competing on the international stage. Indian cricket became something that Afghan fans could watch closely.
“We used to watch India’s matches and support the Indian team,” he said.
Sachin Tendulkar was among his heroes. Rahul Dravid belonged to the generation he watched. And some of the players he once saw on TV ended up being colleagues in the commentary box.
That transition seems to still be something he marvels at.
“In English it’s Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar. In Hindi Navjot Singh Sidhu – when he speaks it’s nice,” Shakir said when asked about his favorite commentators.
Sidhu actually became something of a teacher without ever knowing it. Shakir listened so intently that some of Sidhu’s colorful expressions ended up in his Pashto commentary.
There is another side to Shakir’s cricketing story that makes his current role more meaningful. He saw Afghanistan’s rise in cricket from within the administration.
He has worked across departments of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and remains close to its CEO Naseeb Khan. He watched the sport evolve from something Afghans watched on television to one of the strongest strands of the country’s sporting identity.
“Cricket has played a vital role in Afghanistan for peace, unity and bringing people together,” Shakir said.
“Anywhere in the world, when you mention Afghanistan, people name Rashid Khan. Cricket and Afghanistan are now inseparable.”
Shakir watched the transformation from close quarters. He has also watched the rise of a new generation through Afghanistan’s domestic system, which he describes as robust, with around 15 events a year across various age groups and formats, including First-Class, List A, National T20 and the Shpageeza League.
This is what the administrator and cricket insider is talking about.
But he was different in Delhi. It was an Afghan voice trying to win over the Indian audience.
Afghan cricketers have already done it their way. Rashid Khan has become a household name in the IPL. Mohammad Nabi was a popular presence in Indian cricket. Noor Ahmad added another young Afghan name to this list.
Shakir arrived without bat or ball to offer the Indian fans. He only had his voice. And he delivered it in a language he learned thousands of miles away, from television screens with Amitabh Bachchan, Hindi films and Indian cricket.
His first big assignment hindi commentary in india may have been a professional opportunity but it carried something more personal. He spent his childhood watching Indian cricket from Kabul. Now in Delhi, the cameras were on him.
And somewhere in the commentary box, when he started talking, Gavaskar gave him a thumbs up.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
18 Sep 2026 09:20 IST