Sport

Rashid discusses local cricket and ‘dreams’ of playing for a home crowd

Published

5 years ago

April 8, 2021

One of Afghanistan’s star cricketers, Rashid Khan, said this week that despite the national team’s success on the international circuit, local cricket would benefit from more academies, more standardized grounds and more qualified coaches.

Speaking to The Cricketer on his rise to fame as one of the world’s best bowlers, Rashid said: “Currently, our cricket relies mainly on natural talent.

“Our cricketers have a lot of skill and natural flair, but the opportunities aren’t always there to go out there and express themselves. We would benefit from more academies, more proper grounds and a greater number of qualified coaches or trainers, so our young cricketers get the right advice on preparing for matches.

“To me, preparation is the key for a sportsman and at the moment some of our cricketers are not able to prepare properly due to a lack of facilities and coaches. Natural talent is a great thing to have, but it can only take you so far,” he said.

He said once facilities and opportunities improve in Afghanistan, the world will see “some fantastic classical batsmen, even more spinners, improved fast-bowlers and better-prepared cricketers coming through”.

“We have so much talent amongst our cricketers and once these areas are improved, there will be a lot more cricketers who are well-prepared for international cricket coming through,” he said.

Rashid also stated that the Afghan national team needs more opportunities to play Test cricket and play against the best teams.

“By playing more Test cricket, our batsmen will realise what improvements are needed by them for five-day cricket, they will learn to be patient, our bowlers will learn the art of bowling in Test cricket and our fielding will definitely improve too.

“It’s all about opportunities and chances to play Test cricket, the more chances we get, the better we will become,” he said.

Regarding the T20 World Cup later this year, Rashid said he thinks the national team will be well prepared for the tournament.

“We are known as being hard-hitting batsmen and I think we have great skills for the 20-over format.

“It will be a great opportunity for our youngsters to show the world what they are capable of and will be a boost for the careers of many of our cricketers,” he said.

According to him, playing in such tournaments is good for Afghanistan as a cricket nation and for the players.

“We are fully prepared and we know we are a very good team in the 20-over format as we have the bowling skills and the big-hitting batsmen. We just need to have the self-belief that we can beat any side as long as we play good cricket,” he said.

He said that at the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup, the Afghan team had a good tournament where they had a few opportunities to win matches but the team’s lack of experience showed in the end and they were not able to finish off matches.

He said “this time around we will go into the tournament as a much more experienced squad. I firmly believe that we will deliver in this tournament.”

Rashid also said it is one of his dreams however to play an international match in Afghanistan in front of a home crowd.

“That’s the dream. You can play all over the world, but playing in front of your own people, in front of your own beautiful crowd, in your own conditions, at your own venues is just something completely different.

“This is the advantage we are missing as we aren’t playing any of our international matches at home.” he said.

“I dream for the day when this happens and it will be a huge achievement when this occurs. It will be a day to remember for the nation of Afghanistan, it’s cricketers and all the people of Afghanistan and I hope that day is not too far away, and I wish that I am a part of that wonderful day.”

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Afghanistan limits players to three foreign leagues per year

According to the ACB, the measure is designed to protect player fitness and mental well-being, manage workload, and ensure peak performance during national duties.

Published

1 day ago

January 15, 2026

Ariana News

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has approved a new policy limiting national players to participate in only three international franchise leagues per year, in addition to the upcoming five-team Afghanistan Premier League (APL), which is set to start around October 2026 in the UAE, the board announced at its annual general meeting in Kabul.

According to the ACB, the measure is designed to protect player fitness and mental well-being, manage workload, and ensure peak performance during national duties.

Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are among key players that feature in foreign leagues.

Afghanistan’s next international series is a three-match T20I against West Indies in the UAE, ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup in India.

Sport

Semenyo fires Manchester City toward Carabao Cup Final with win at Newcastle

Published

2 days ago

January 14, 2026

Ariana News

Manchester City moved a step closer to the Carabao Cup final after securing a 2–0 victory over Newcastle United in the first leg of their semi-final at St James’ Park on Tuesday night, with new signing Antoine Semenyo once again proving decisive.

Semenyo, who joined City in a £65 million move, continued his impressive start to life under Pep Guardiola by scoring for the second consecutive game. His strike made him the first City player since Emmanuel Adebayor in 2009 to score in his first two appearances for the club and put the visitors ahead against the run of play.

Newcastle started brightly and threatened early, with Yoane Wissa forcing goalkeeper James Trafford into action and later seeing efforts hit the woodwork twice in quick succession after the break. City, however, made the most of their reprieve, breaking forward on the counter as Jeremy Doku led the charge before Semenyo pounced to open the scoring.

Eddie Howe had voiced frustration before the match over a rule change that allowed Semenyo to feature in the tie despite earlier appearances for Bournemouth in the competition, and Newcastle were made to pay as City grew in control during the second half.

Semenyo appeared to have doubled his tally following a corner, but the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review for interference by Erling Haaland. City remained composed and eventually sealed the win deep into added time when substitute Rayan Cherki finished off a sweeping move initiated by Rayan Ait-Nouri.

The result gives City a commanding advantage ahead of the second leg in Manchester next month, as Guardiola’s side look to book their place at Wembley, while Newcastle face a difficult task to overturn the deficit.

Football fans across Afghanistan can meanwhile tune in tonight, Wednesday January 14, to Ariana Television to watch the second semi-final where Chelsea will take on Arsenal.

Fans can follow Ariana News and Ariana Television’s social media pages for match details.

Sport

Toby Radford appointed Afghanistan’s batting coach

Published

3 days ago

January 13, 2026

Ariana News

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Toby Radford as the new batting coach of the national team. Radford replaces Andrew Puttick and is expected to join the squad ahead of Afghanistan’s upcoming three-match T20I series against the West Indies.

Alongside Radford’s appointment, the ACB also named Robert Ahmun as the team’s new strength and conditioning trainer. Both Radford and Ahmun have been appointed on one-year contracts and will link up with the squad before Afghanistan’s final T20I series ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan are scheduled to face the West Indies in a three-match T20I series on January 19, 21 and 22 in Dubai. The series is seen as a key part of the team’s preparations for the global tournament later this year.

Radford is a highly regarded Welsh coach and former first-class cricketer who represented Middlesex and Sussex. An ECB Level 4 certified coach, he brings vast international experience, having previously served as batting coach at Pakistan’s High Performance Centre and as Head of High Performance for the Bangladesh Cricket Board. He was also part of the West Indies coaching staff during their ICC T20 World Cup triumph in 2012.

In domestic cricket, Radford guided Middlesex to a national T20 title in 2008 and later served as head coach of Glamorgan. He is also known as an ECB coach mentor and the author of the popular cricket book Getting to Grips.

Ahmun, an elite strength and conditioning specialist from Wales, most recently served as Head of Performance Science and Medicine at the England and Wales Cricket Board. The ACB said it is now continuing its search for a head coach and a spin bowling coach, with current head coach Jonathan Trott expected to step down after the T20 World Cup.