In Delhi’s mini Kabuls, hearts beat for AFG and Rashid Khan

For Afghans reeling under the Taliban regime and the isolation of international sanctions, occasions to celebrate are few and far between. But last week’s victory over Pakistan, preceded by the win over England, in the cricket World Cup lifted spirits not just in that country, but in some corners of Delhi as well. Two areas of south Delhi — Lajpat Nagar and Bhogal — are home to a sizable number of Afghan refugees who fled their country and are trying to rebuild their lives here.
Walk in the lanes here, and you can smell the aroma of qormas and naans, see men in salwar kameez and hear a smattering of Pashto. Now, they’re all united in cheering for their team. And for a few hours, conflict recedes, and cricket takes over. Isa Khan, who lives with his family in Bhogal, hasn’t missed a match. Every time Afghanistan plays in the tournament, members of the community gather in front of a projector screen to watch. “When our team does well, it gives a lot of hope to our people.
At least people are talking about Afghanistan for good reasons and achievements, not just because of the Taliban,” says Khan, who was one of the many who left when the Taliban swept into Kabul in 2021. Musa Khan, a shopkeeper in Bhogal who has been living in India for the last eight years, bought tickets in black for the India-Afghanistan match that took place in Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi earlier this month. He also went to Chennai to watch the match against Pakistan and hopes to watch all the team’s matches inside the stadium rather than on TV Kamaluddin, who shifted to Delhi last month in search of a job, says fans know that their presence in the stands counts. “The players know that Afghan people are looking to them with hope, and it makes them also work harder for us and the country,” he says.
They’ve already come a long way considering that it was not a sport that was even played in Afghanistan till a couple of decades ago. Afghanistan cricket was born in camps in Pakistan where Afghans fleeing the war against the Soviets in the 1980s had taken refuge. After the Taliban seized power, the exodus increased, and so did the number of young boys playing in dusty fields outside their shanties. When those refugees returned after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, they carried the game back home.
“What fundamentally distinguishes Afghanistan from cricket’s new nations is their natural talent and self-belief,” Tim Albone, author of ‘Out of the Ashes’, a book on the origins of Afghanistan cricket, told The New York Times when the team made it to the 2015 World Cup. A lot of dreams hinge on this team. Anwar Joya, former employee at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi who runs a grocery shop in Bhogal, says the team’s World Cup performance will enthuse Afghan children who are still stuck in the country under Taliban occupation.
“These players give us hope for a better future of the people of Afghanistan,” he said. In nearby Lajpat Nagar, the popular restaurant Mazaar expressed its support for the team by sending Afghan dishes to the hotel where the team was staying ahead of the match against India. Mujeeb Rehman, a customer at Mazaar, said his dream was to meet his favorite cricketer Rashid Khan. Khan, the team’s star bowler, is a hero not just for his game but his free-spirited personality — how he dances on the field and gestures to fans. There’s also his humanitarian side. His NGO, the Rashid Khan Foundation, has been helping earthquake victims across Afghanistan and has participated in other aid activities in the past as well.
“He has done a lot for his people,” says Rehman. Raees Ahmadzai, assistant coach and one of the first ODI players from Afghanistan, has seen them go from underdog to giant killer. He said that despite having zero resources or encouragement from the government in initial days, what kept the players going was their passion for the game and love for their country. “Winning brings a smile to the faces of Afghan people and as coaches and players we know that. We have the confidence that we can beat any team,” Ahmadzai told TOI over the phone. Not just Afghanistan, India is also a part of the team’s success journey.
Shaheed Vijay Pathik stadium in Greater Noida used to be the home ground for the team from 2015 to 2020. The team’s star players like Rashid Khan, Nabi Mujeeb, Mohammad Shehzad and the current captain Hashmatullah Shahid have all trained at the stadium. For the last couple of years, the team has been training in Dubai and Sharjah, while also playing IPL tournaments. “All these things have helped get it to the level of international counterparts,” Ahmadzai adds. The next Afghanistan match is on October 30 against Sri Lanka.