Ahmadzai: An Afghan refugee's journey from a camp to the Cricket World Cup

In an interview with Business Standard, Afghanistan assistant coach Raes Ahmadzai talks about his journey from a refugee camp in Pakistan to helping his team do better at the Cricket World Cup 2023

Afghanistan have created jitters in the cricketing world with three big wins over the former world champions -- England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They are now aiming to do what no one in the Test-playing nations expected them to do, i.e. grab a spot in the semifinals of the ICC World Cup 2023. Afghanistan batting coach Raees Ahmadzai reflected on how his team went up the ladder in world cricket. Ahmadzai, who took up the bat in a refugee camp in Pakistan, talked at length about living in a war zone, getting emotional while talking about the turbulent wartime he faced and how cricket became the number one sport in the country.

Ahmadzai debuted in international cricket in 2009 when he represented Afghanistan against Scotland. He played 13 matches during his short stint in international cricket. Before making international debut, he led Afghanistan, when the team in 2006 was not a full member of ICC, against several county sides in England.

In a free-wheeling chat with Business Standard, 39-year-old Raees Ahmadzai explained what cricket meant for the people of Afghanistan. Afghans don't just talk about their own players but also discuss Virat Kohli's centuries, Ponting and Dravid's era, he says—this and more in this chat below, which has been excerpted and edited for clarity.

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Afghanistan have been playing very well in this World Cup. Of course, it isn't the result of some magic wand being waved. What is the contribution of your domestic cricket and first-class cricket structure in this performance?

I think we have a good structure back in the country. Now, first-class matches and List-A cricket are going on in Afghanistan. But honestly, for this World Cup, we were busy playing cricket in different parts of the world as a team. We were always involved in pre or post-match camps or playing some international matches. We had some good games with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As a group, we had pre-World Cup camps and the Asia Cup, but everything was targeted for the World Cup.

But yes, we have a very good structure still. There are lots of areas to improve. We should be playing at least ten first-class matches each, but we play only five or six. It would be wonderful if a player participated in 8-10 matches first-class matches. The other thing is we need to improve the A squad. Though the under-19 squad is doing well, we have a gap between the under-19 and the national side. The middle part is still what we need to work on. We must build an under-23 team and keep working on the list A side.

So, the A side needs to play top sides such as Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. That will help the national side, you know. 

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The batters and bowlers are playing with a lot of maturity. What's the secret behind this?

If you play against top teams for five or six matches in a year, or more than three matches, it will help. Then that team will be better for sure than this World Cup team. We played one game against England in the 2015 World Cup and the next in the 2019 World Cup. And after four years, we are playing one-on-one matches against the top sides. For the third time, we defeated them (in the 2023 World Cup). The same goes for India; we are playing with them only in the big ICC events.

Despite the three big upsets, the Afghan team hasn't gone over the top in celebration. What's the reason

For Afghanistan, I hate people calling those wins upsets. If you qualify for the World Cup, that means you did something. West Indies are not here. Sri Lanka was in the qualifying stage. I respect the Netherlands team, the way they played in the qualifying rounds. In the World Cup matches, every team must be treated the same. If we beat another team, no one should call it an upset. We worked hard as a team, and we did well on the ground in all three departments. That's why we beat three former champions in this World Cup.

How is the mood back home? How is the following in Afghanistan?

Cricket is new in our country. But when you are talking with someone back in the country about cricket, then you will hear about many things. They don't just know about Afghan players but also about Virat Kohli and his centuries. They tell you about Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Shane Warne, and Muthaiah Muralitharan, which means people understand cricket. They knew the meaning of Test cricket, who is the champion, who is the best side and the team and players' rankings. In the short time what we achieved as a team, people know about it. They not only follow Afghanistan matches, they don't want to miss any IPL or league matches. This shows cricket is the number one sport in Afghanistan, and there are massive fans in the country. 

I can tell you that if our country had a stadium like this (Ekana Stadium in Lucknow), it would be full, and there would be no empty seats.

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This stadium has a 50,000 capacity, and I am sure over 50,000 fans will be waiting to get into the stadium if Afghanistan is playing a match at their home ground. And I also remember when we were playing as hosts, some of the fans came a day early and slept overnight in the stadium, fearing there would be no empty seats the following day.

Afghanistan has been going through a turbulent time since the 1980s, and the earthquake struck recently. What does this victory mean to the people and you as a team?

A smile and some happiness, and they forget what we have been going through. It isn't just the earthquake. It is what we have been going through in the last 40 years. I don't know how other people would've reacted if they had faced such problems. It requires some toughness. But the good thing is that we are alive, and we want to celebrate.

The war that Afghanistan has been going through is the reason behind mental toughness?

I think so, but sometimes, when we are sitting together, it feels that we are very unlucky. Sometimes, we feel like that. We do not want war. We want peace. We want a good relationship with everyone. We want to celebrate, we want sports, we want education. We want to do some other activities in the country. Have healthcare, for example, not just cricket. But we know those things are not in our control. But still, you think about it.

So, do you continue to live in Afghanistan?

I live in Kabul, Afghanistan, and I love my country.

Have you ever wanted to leave your country?

I don't want to leave my country. I am here talking to you because of the country.

So, how do you feel when bombs are dropping and choppers are falling?

I have seen bombs dropping in front of me many times. During the war, we would sometimes think of moving our family to a safer place. It was not about my life but about the fear of losing family members while they were going to the office or the city.

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Sometimes, it felt like when I would come back, they might not be alive because of suicide bombers or a bomb blast or something like that. But we never stopped going to offices or the city, or some other places. But yes, I feel bad as a human being,

Were you scared as a father?

Oh, yes. I'm not worried that much for myself. But sometimes, I was worried for my family. Now, it's okay since there is no war. It isn't easy if you have kids. You worry what will happen to them.

How was your childhood? Tell us something about that.

I was born in a refugee camp. They just restrict life. You guys are allowed to go, or you guys are not allowed to go. You know, lots of restrictions. Tent life. No proper clothes. Like some kids, we dreamt of having new clothes and nice shoes. And we were thinking about that. Sometimes, if we face suffering like that early in life, life becomes easy for us later. It makes you strong. But as a kid, you want some nice things or to celebrate something. But again, it was not in our control.
 

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How did you pick up the game, and how has the journey been?

I started playing cricket in the refugee camp with the tennis ball. We would love to play cricket. It was like horses have blinkers. We, too, would only see cricket. We would only think or dream about it in the morning or evening. We always want to do something for our soil, for our country. And we are fortunate that we did something.

Now, the people are celebrating, and everyone is proud. I remember at the start, everyone would say, you guys are just wasting your time. There will be nothing for you guys. But then I went to England as captain in 2006. We played seven matches, winning six of them against different county teams. When we returned, I swear there was no one to receive us. We didn't have pocket money to take a taxi from the airport to home. But still, we believed in our cricketing prowess.