No longer underdogs: How Afghanistan became Asia's number two team; cricket's most remarkable story of the last decade

Rashid Latif, former Pakistan captain, shared an interesting anecdote from his first day as Afghanistan's cricket coach. "We were in Kabul and it was my first training session with the team. Mirwais Ashraf, who is currently the chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, emerged from a fallen aircraft (an American). He came out and said: 'Rashid bhai, apna dressing room.' And he laughed," Latif told TimesofIndia.com."There is a will of not giving up and to keep smiling no matter what the situation is, and that's why they have become a world-beater in the white-ball format," added Latif, who coached Afghanistan in 2010.Let's jog down the memory lane. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, the Rashid Khan-led team reached the semifinal, and from Kabul to Kandahar, and Khost to Laghman, the streets were jam-packed. Cricket gave them hope, which they have been fighting for over the last five decades in their war trodden history.Moments after the victory against Bangladesh, arguably the greatest sporting moment Afghanistan had ever witnessed, their captain Rashid Khan and all-rounder Gulbadin Naib recited a Pashto poem. The tentative translation was: "Roll up your sleeves, come celebrate and dance. Poor people like us rarely get the chance to enjoy, as happiness belongs to those who are strong and rich…"The team that was once playing in ICC's third, fourth, and fifth division leagues just a few years ago has seen phenomenal growth. They have gone from strength to strength to become the second-best team in Asia in white-ball cricket, just behind India.Searching for a voiceAfghanistan first found its voice and caught the cricketing world’s attention in the 2015 ODI World Cup, when the team’s last-wicket pair guided them to a famous one-wicket victory in Dunedin against Scotland, following an epic innings by Samiullah Shenwari.But the Afghans were not going to settle for this. They wanted more.On the eve of their 2016 T20 World Cup match against West Indies, captain Asghar Stanikzai declared: “In the next one or two years, we will be a serious team and beat these Full Members very easily.” The next day, they stunned the eventual champions West Indies by six runs. That was not it. They had also created chances in earlier matches against Sri Lanka, South Africa, and England."I think we have had enough of winning the hearts of cricket fans. This time we won the match," Mohammad Nabi said after the West Indies game.By the 2019 ODI World Cup, Afghanistan had become a tricky opponent. They pushed India and Pakistan close in low-scoring thrillers, losing narrowly. Though they finished winless, they had shown they were here to stay and were a force to be reckoned with.2023 World Cup: The breakthrough momentThe breakthrough moment for Afghanistan came in the 2023 ODI World Cup. In what was their most successful campaign, the Afghans won four out of nine games, compared to just one win in their previous two World Cups.Three of those four victories came against England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, while the fourth was against the Netherlands. Against Pakistan, they completed their highest successful chase in ODIs.Had it not been for their batting collapse against Bangladesh, some dropped catches at crucial moments, and the Maxwell miracle at Wankhede, they could have reached the semi-finals.Afghanistan ended their campaign in 6th position, just one spot behind neighbours Pakistan, falling short only on net run rate. They finished above England (7th), Bangladesh (8th), and Sri Lanka (9th).A large part of this transformation came under head coach Jonathan Trott, who took charge in July 2022. While they were earlier known for playing with heart and passion, Afghans were not translating it into victories. Even when they did, consistency was missing. Often seen with his notebook, the former English batter brought calmness and clarity to a squad that at times played with impatience and often looked restless.The arrival of AfghanistanIf the 2023 World Cup was a statement, the 2024 T20 World Cup was Afghanistan's dream run. If anyone had doubts about their ability, talent, or temperament, Afghanistan put them all to rest, proving they no longer come into tournaments just for a “good fight,” but to win matches.In the tournament of 20 teams, Afghanistan first qualified for the Super Eights and then reached the semi-finals. In the process, they got the better of Uganda, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Bangladesh.That was not all. They also toppled the mighty Australians, exorcising the ghosts of Wankhede 2023.Playing the semi-final against South Africa within 48 hours of beating Bangladesh, Afghanistan eventually succumbed to a nine-wicket loss on an uneven Tarouba wicket. Nevertheless, they proved they came not just with a big heart and courage, but also with strong tactics and high skills.While Afghanistan finished their campaign with five wins, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan fell behind with three, one, and two wins respectively. Pakistan and Sri Lanka did not even qualify for the Super Eights.2025 Champions TrophyDrawn in Group B with South Africa, England, and Australia, Afghanistan opened with a 107-run defeat to South Africa in Karachi on February 21. They rebounded five days later in Lahore, beating England by eight runs, powered by Ibrahim Zadran’s 177 and Azmatullah Omarzai’s five-for, before their February 28 fixture against Australia at Lahore was abandoned as a no-result.They did not progress to the semi-finals, but once again finished ahead of regional rivals; hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh went winless, while Sri Lanka had not even qualified for the Champions Trophy.Cricket's greatest storyline in the last decadeOver the last decade, India has asserted its dominance in world cricket and emerged as Asia’s top team by some distance. While India remains the continent’s undisputed number one, Afghanistan has quietly climbed to second place, surpassing Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.Their progress has been faster than Pakistan’s inconsistency, more sustainable than Sri Lanka’s one-off Asia Cup success, and more significant than Bangladesh’s fading promise.Surely, they are not perfect. There are still areas that demand improvement — the batting line-up, especially in ODIs, needs to be more consistent, and fielding, particularly catching, must improve.But for a team that began its cricketing journey in refugee camps of Pakistan, coming this far in such a short time is nothing short of remarkable. For a nation searching for heroes amid constant strife and chaos, cricket has become a uniting force, giving millions of Afghans a reason to dream. The rise of Afghanistan is the greatest storyline of the last decade in world cricket.