CANBERRA — Mohammad Nabi has come a long way from the refugee camps of central Asia where he, along with other children displaced by war, whiled away the hours playing cricket. The 30-year-old captain of Afghanistan's national cricket team knows he will carry the expectations of supporters in his war-torn homeland Wednesday when he leads his lineup into its first World Cup match in the 50-over format. The Afghan team goes into the match as underdogs against Bangladesh, which has only been playing among the elite cricket nations for 15 years. Just getting to compete on the manicured grass of Manuka Oval in the Australian capital Canberra is an achievement against the odds for Nabi's team. It's half a world away from the refugee camp where the all-rounder was born in the strife-prone Pakistani city of Peshawar near the Afghan border during the Soviet war with Afghanistan. Life in the refugee camp was tough, Nabi recalled Tuesday, adding: “You play cricket a lot in refugee camps.” “I'm very happy to represent Afghanistan in the World Cup,” he said. “Hopefully I'll enjoy the whole tournament as captain.” Afghanistan's British-born coach Andy Moles said while the squad was considered a long-shot to beat the biggest teams in cricket, the Afghan players expected to do well. “First of all, what impressed me about them was their genuine all-around passion for the game and their genuine desire to win games,” said Moles, who became head coach in September. “Whoever they play against, they go on the field and they genuinely believe they can win.” Nabi was not the only player to overcome hardships to find his place in the team. “It' been well documented the hardships that the players and the general public have at home all over Afghanistan,” Moles said. Cricket “is a unifying sport, it's a well-received sport among the population in Afghanistan and the players know that through good performances it will be a massive uplift in just the general well being of the country.” The importance of the Afghan players representing their country at a major international event is appreciated by many cricket fans. Supporters mobbed the team during an official welcome in downtown Canberra at the weekend. Team members signed cricket bats, balls and World Cup tickets for grateful fans. Mushin Dadarkara lined up to meet the team with his eight-year-old son Baha. “I am an Indian supporter, but I love (the) Afghanistan team as well,” Dadarkara told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “In spite of the problems in their country, they have come up (a) long way and they have done very well in cricket.” Bangladesh captain Masrafe Mortaza said his team respected the Afghans as opponents, particularly after losing a low-scoring match to Afghanistan at the Asian Cup last March. We “have taken them very seriously because we respect them not (as) beginners, we respect them all the country,” said Mortaza, who knows what it's like to be part of a team trying to prove itself in the international arena. He made his one-day international debut in 2001 — a year after Bangladesh joined the elite Test-playing nations — and has played 11 World Cup matches among his 144 one-day international matches, Moles was happy that the pressure was on Bangladesh as the favorite for the match Wednesday. “We are very much in our infancy,” Moles said. “But if we play well, do the right things and stay calm, we are capable of playing some serious cricket.” With experienced players like Nowroz Mangal, Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari, Najibullah Zadran, Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hasan, Afghanistan will hope they can show its talent in the big league. Afghanistan qualified for the last two World Twenty20 tournaments in 2010 and 2012 but lost all its matches. A loss would be an embarrassment for the Bangladeshis, who must negotiate Afghanistan if they are to make a run for the quarterfinals as one of four teams out of Pool A. Bangladesh, coached by Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusingha, will need a dramatic turn in fortunes to ensure another World Cup does not cause more misery. Bangladesh failed to register wins for most of 2014 until fellow wooden-spooners Zimbabwe came calling at the end of the year and were thrashed 3-0 in Tests and 5-0 in the one-dayers. Bangladesh has struggled at Test level — winning just seven of its 88 Tests since its debut in 2000 — but has always appeared more suited to the shorter format where it has recorded creditable wins. A five-wicket win over Australia at Cardiff in 2005 was their moment of glory until it knocked India out of the 2007 World Cup to move beyond the first round for the only time in the tournament. “The kind of squad we have, I am confident we can reach the quarter-finals,” skipper Mortaza said. The focal point of Bangladesh's campaign will be the skilful 27-year-old all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who has been the team's mainstay ever since his international debut eight years ago. The left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner goes into his third World Cup as the ICC top-ranked all-rounder in all three formats. Shakib is the only player in the team who has experienced Australian conditions recently, having turned out for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament. Another player to watch is 22-year-old left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who grabbed eight for 39 against Zimbabwe in Dhaka in only his third Test to record the best Test figures ever by a Bangladeshi bowler. — Agencies
