Long hair, bandanas and cartwheels: Afghanistan's love of cricket is uplifting

On Thursday, just a few minutes after flicking the ball through square-leg to score the winning runs, Shapoor Zadran threw his helmet and bat on the ground. Then, he paused. Just for a moment but it seemed like an eternity. A few seconds later, he found his voice and roared. Just one, earth-shattering roar.

And then he ran and ran and ran. He was unstoppable.

Finally, he knelt, stretched out his arms and let gravity bring his face crashing down into the turf. It was a knockout alright. Not that he cared. He had done it; Afghanistan had done it - from 97-7 to 211-9. They had whipped together an epic turnaround and won their first match at the World Cup.

The Afghan squad quit the dugout en masse and ran onto the field to embrace Shapoor. The University Oval had witnessed something special; something historic.

It seems hard to believe that just 14 years ago Afghanistan cricket was formed in a war-torn country. Many of their players grew up in refugee camps in Pakistan with fears of missiles and bombs on either side of the border dominating their daily lives. They didn’t have equipment, clothing or monetary assistance .

Participating in cricket’s biggest event wasn’t even on their mind but they climbed up the ladder swiftly. There were difficult times but their passion for the sport and for life kept them on track throughout.

And so far, it has been a complete display in the World Cup. In their maiden appearance, they have surpassed all expectations so far. They fought hard against Bangladesh, gave Sri Lanka a real scare and followed up with a dramatic turnaround to clinch a thriller against Scotland.

Their passion isn’t more visually evident than when you watch Shapoor.

He is a huge bloke, with strong shoulders and long hair too. He marks a 40-yard run-up, runs in, bowls with pace and great intensity, walks back and then runs in again to bowl with the same intensity. He is tireless. He breaks bats - ask Mahela Jayawardene and Majid Haq. There is nothing about him that spells ‘Associate.’

He lets out a roar after taking a wicket, he follows it up with a flying airplane-like, Shoaib Akhtar-esque celebration. He is exuberant and full of energy.

Against Scotland, he ripped through the middle and lower order ending up with figures of 4/38. He, then, kept his cool while batting. In the last over, with four runs needed, he hit the winning shot.

Then you have Hamid Hassan. The fast bowler has become a cult hero in this tournament. He wears a Rambo-esque bandana, sports war paint on his cheeks; trades his shoes with Shapoor in the middle of a match and follows up with passionate celebrations which bring unbridled joy.

These days, scalping Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket is as tough as making ICC understand the importance of Associate teams. But Hassan went one step further. He ripped through Sangakkara’s defenses to rattle his stumps with an inswinger in Dunedin. He then followed it up with a botched up cartwheel celebration.

Next up was the ‘Freddie Flintoff’ celebration after removing Dimuth Karunaratne to reduce the Lankans to 51-4. He went down on one knee with his arms outstretched and looking towards the heavens. He ended Mahela Jayawardene’s magical knock and knelt down to kiss the turf in relief, giving the Afghans a ray of hope. Sri Lanka got the win, but Afghanistan won the hearts.

Against Scotland, he troubled Hamish Gardiner and finally trapped him Leg before. Up went the Flintoff celebration again.

Hassan doesn’t just celebrate after claiming a wicket, he also goes berserk after taking a catch. Josh Davey hit one to mid-off, the fast bowler dived forward and pouched it inches above the ground. He sat back up, spread his hands and legs wide apart, then tried to roll back over his head but didn’t quite succeed - a commando roll.

He, then, got up and showed that he can cartwheel perfectly. Later, he walked out to bat at 132/8 and provided crucial support to Samiullah Shenwari. He remained unbeaten and watched Shapoor go nuts with his celebrations. No wonder he is called Afghaninstan’s ‘David Beckham.’

But of course, the bowlers weren’t expecting their batting to save Afghanistan. That job belonged to the ‘proper’ batsman and none of them was as ‘proper’ as Shenwari on the day.

Shenwari was livid, annoyed and banged his bat on the turf in frustration at the non-striker’s end even as the ball was in the air after Dawlat Zadran had played a nonsensical shot at a crucial juncture against Scotland. He had a real go at Dawlat as the latter trudged back to the pavilion.

Afghanistan were rebuilding after being reduced to 97/7 in the 24th over. Shenwari was batting confidently but Dawlat suffered a brain fade in the 35th over. Shenwari reached his fifty off 113 balls an over later but didn’t celebrate despite the applause. He was still angry.

Walking in at 46/2, Shenwari saw batsmen arrive and depart. Initially, he responded to the wickets by just blocking everything. ‘Shenwari in Test match mode’ jokes flew across twitter. But, he kept his calm and his grumpiness. After every shot, be it a clean hit, a mishit or a missed single – he let his emotions rise to the surface. But he kept it together for as long as possible and then went all out.

With 38 needed off 24, he hit three sixes off Majid Haq. He went for the fourth but holed out. He couldn’t believe it, neither could anyone in the stands. An incredible 96 had come to an end. He reached the pavilion, didn’t take off his pads, gloves or helmet. He just sat there – visibly distraught.

However, Shapoor and Hassan ensured that Shenwari’s heroics weren’t wasted. Journalist, Geoff Lemon perfectly captured Shenwari’s reactions post the winning runs. “Volcanos flare. Seas boil. Slowly, painfully, like granite cracking over millennia, Samiullah Shenwari breaks into a smile.”

From 97/7, Afghanistan chased down 211 with three balls to spare. This was the stuff dreams are made of.

Shenwari was one of the players who was born and brought up in a Peshawar refugee camp. He sent Afghanistan into frenzy with an innings of a lifetime.

In the post-match interview, Shenwari described the emotions he went through during his innings.

“It was big tension for me, my heart was beating so fast and I had to say to myself control it, control it, control it. Dawlat stayed with me, and that’s what I said to him. Even if it’s a maiden or a single, don’t think about that. Just wait for the last five overs. He was always telling me I can hit, but I said ‘I can hit and I am not hitting, so why do you want to?’

“When Dawlat hit the shot (which got him out), I told him why did you do it? Why did you do it? But he wasn’t responding. That’s why I was angry.”

With the ICC changing the qualifying setup for the next tournament, Afghanistan, may or may not make it to the 2019 World Cup but they’ll always have this moment. Nothing the ICC does can ever take this away from them.

Watching Afghanistan play is like a journey back to the old days, when people played cricket not for money but just for the love of the game. And that is why it’s hard not to fall in love watching Afghanistan play. More power to them.