Debasis Sen, Dubai: Afghanistan cricket team is on a role in the ongoing Asia Cup having already beaten teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the group stages. Former captain Mohammad Nabi with his 3 wickets so far is also the leading wicket taker for his country. The biggest motivation for Nabi, who has seen the rise of Afghan cricket is to see the young cricketers of his country doing well. The story of former Afghanistan captain is no less awe-inspiring. Nabi, who started his cricket in refugee camp in Peshawar, is currently the highest wicket taker for Afghanistan in One Day Internationals. In a freewheeling chat with Xtra Time, the former Afghanistan captain shared his old memories in refugee camps, early days of cricket in war torn Afghanistan, becoming role models to the young generation, rise of Afghanistan cricket and so on. Here are the excerpts:
XT: What are your feelings when you look back at those early days?
Nabi: At that time there was nothing in Afghanistan to play cricket. There was no facilities, no turf pitches (all cement pitches), cricket grounds and no proper domestic structure. It was story of struggle to rise from zero to a test playing nation. Now there are better facilities in Afghanistan. I have been witness to all during the last eighteen years.
XT: What do you tell the youngsters about the early struggles you faced?
Nabi: We tell the youngsters about the struggles and hardships we faced during the early days. We didn’t have proper cricket gears. I bought my cricket gear from my pocket money.
XT: Can you talk us about your friendship ( Mohammad Nabi, Shapoor Zadran, Ashgar Stanizkai and Mohammad Shahzad) motivating each other to take the sport?
Nabi: We all loved the game and were passionate about it. We just played the game to win as we had nothing to lose. That mentality worked a lot for the team. We motivate ourselves by considering as role models. When the youngsters see us working hard they also feel motivated to work even harder.
XT: What sort of obstacles did you face from your family?
Nabi: There was a lot of pressure from my family as well. We had a big family as well and my parents used to tell me that there is no future in cricket . But the moment we started winning they encouraged me. My elder brother always supported me to play the sport.
XT: How did you fall in love with cricket?
Nabi: When I was a refugee in Peshawar, I played cricket in school. Everyone used to play cricket in school and on streets. We used to watch the cricketers from India and Pakistan. They were our role models. But in 1996 I first heard about a Taliban tournament being organized in Afghanistan. A team from Fattah region won a tournament in Peshawar.
XT: What was the impact of the war on you and your family?
Nabi: The situation in Kabul is much better than what we witnessed before. I live with my children in Kabul and there is no problem.
XT: Now when you look back at the struggles how do you feel to see Afghanistan doing well as a cricket nation?
Nabi: We now have international grounds, academies, proper domestic structure. We also have four day competition, One Day tournaments, club cricket and school cricket nowadays. This year we are launching the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) . It Will be huge learning experience for the youngsters getting an opportunity to share the dressing room with big international stars like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Shahid Afridi.