Acb media

T20 World Cup: On Wednesday, Raees Ahmadzai, Afghanistan’s assistant coach, in their captivating 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup campaign, posted a picture that was outside the trend of throwback Thursdays on Instagram. In that picture from Afghanistan’s first Men’s T20 World Cup campaign in 2010, Ahmadzai can be seen standing for the national anthem alongside his teammates, including Mohammed Nabi. He captioned it as, ’01 May 2010 vs India. 20 June 2024 vs India. After 14 years in the West Indies against India. Time for something very special boys’.

The 2010 Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies was the year when Afghanistan, a team made up of half of the players born and brought up in refugee camps and who eventually took up learning about the sport there, made their debut in the event.

Their first game in the T20 World Cup was against India at St Lucia, where they showed glimpses of being a force to reckon with, despite losing to the MS Dhoni-led side. Now, 14 years later, Afghanistan are appearing for the first time in the tournament’s knockout stage, adding yet another chapter to their remarkable story and capturing the attention of fans worldwide.