BENGALURU: Hand on his heart and tears in his eyes, 22-year-old Anees Haleem sang the Afghanistan national anthem. The newest entrants into the elite box, having completed Test status, saved their date with history at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday.
Among the 9000-odd weekday spectators within the stands, there were a handful of Afghan fanatics, most commonly scholars, from around the country. Numerous them arrived early and feature been milling across the team resort during the last few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. They flew in from Hyderabad and Pune on Wednesday, complete with national flags, carrying black pathan suits which had their national colours – black, pink and green -- embroidered on it.
Haleem, from Nagahan province, and his five buddies, who find out about at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, prepared for his or her date with history months in advance. When they remaining visited house, they got here prepared with flags of various sizes.
Speaking concerning the feelings operating through him and others when looking at his team in white flannels, the 22-year-old instructed TOI, “It is one of these blessed second for all Afghans right here and again house. Our team has played world cricket in different codecs, but Test cricket is the true deal. We grew up looking at different countries play Test cricket, to peer our team now in whites is a different feeling.”
Haleem, who additionally performs some cricket, explained. “I totally teared up once I heard the national anthem. It is tricky to give an explanation for the feeling of looking at your national team in whites.”
Haleem’s pal Rahimulla, who hails from Khost mentioned, “We knew we needed to watch this match, so we requested our households to ship us more cash to commute to Bengaluru they usually obliged.”
Bengaluru has a 100-member robust Afghan neighborhood but only about 20 made it to the stadium at the opening day with maximum of them having retuned house for his or her annual holiday which started previous this month.
Asghar Stanikzai and his team’s entry into the world cricket scene is like soothing balm at the minds and hearts of folks from the war-ravaged country.
“It is a large achievement for us as a country. The outcome right here does now not matter, what matters is the reality our team has made it till right here. We are very pleased with the team. People are celebrating the ancient second. Given the trouble again house—there was once an apprehension assault the day before today (Wednesday) as neatly— cricket is something that brings a grin on our face,” pointed out Kabul-born Suliman, a BSc pupil at Brindavan school and an ardent Mohammad Nabi fan.
The rain interruptions however, the Afghan fanatics, who wildly cheered every run stored and every maiden over bowled, had been a contented lot.
Summing up the sentiments, Suliman added, “We can now proudly say, ‘We witnessed history.”
Among the 9000-odd weekday spectators within the stands, there were a handful of Afghan fanatics, most commonly scholars, from around the country. Numerous them arrived early and feature been milling across the team resort during the last few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. They flew in from Hyderabad and Pune on Wednesday, complete with national flags, carrying black pathan suits which had their national colours – black, pink and green -- embroidered on it.
Haleem, from Nagahan province, and his five buddies, who find out about at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, prepared for his or her date with history months in advance. When they remaining visited house, they got here prepared with flags of various sizes.
Speaking concerning the feelings operating through him and others when looking at his team in white flannels, the 22-year-old instructed TOI, “It is one of these blessed second for all Afghans right here and again house. Our team has played world cricket in different codecs, but Test cricket is the true deal. We grew up looking at different countries play Test cricket, to peer our team now in whites is a different feeling.”
Haleem, who additionally performs some cricket, explained. “I totally teared up once I heard the national anthem. It is tricky to give an explanation for the feeling of looking at your national team in whites.”
Haleem’s pal Rahimulla, who hails from Khost mentioned, “We knew we needed to watch this match, so we requested our households to ship us more cash to commute to Bengaluru they usually obliged.”
Bengaluru has a 100-member robust Afghan neighborhood but only about 20 made it to the stadium at the opening day with maximum of them having retuned house for his or her annual holiday which started previous this month.
Asghar Stanikzai and his team’s entry into the world cricket scene is like soothing balm at the minds and hearts of folks from the war-ravaged country.
“It is a large achievement for us as a country. The outcome right here does now not matter, what matters is the reality our team has made it till right here. We are very pleased with the team. People are celebrating the ancient second. Given the trouble again house—there was once an apprehension assault the day before today (Wednesday) as neatly— cricket is something that brings a grin on our face,” pointed out Kabul-born Suliman, a BSc pupil at Brindavan school and an ardent Mohammad Nabi fan.
The rain interruptions however, the Afghan fanatics, who wildly cheered every run stored and every maiden over bowled, had been a contented lot.
Summing up the sentiments, Suliman added, “We can now proudly say, ‘We witnessed history.”
Afghanistan savour a golden moment
![Afghanistan savour a golden moment]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
June 15, 2018
Rating:
