Tajikistan wants to learn cricket from Afghans

JALALABAD (PAN, an official of the visiting contingent said on Friday.

Naeem, the deputy chief of the Tajikistan Cricket Federation, told a gathering at a hotel in Jalalabad that his country wanted to promote the sport with the support of Afghanistan.

He praised the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for inviting their squad and agreeing to extend technical cooperation to the nascent Tajik squad.   

The visitors will two one-day and one twenty-20 matches against the Afghanistan-A team at the Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

Naeem said his boys were not interested in the outcome of the matches, but wanted to learn the essentials of cricket from their Afghan counterparts.

They were immensely interested in benefitting from Afghanistan’s expertise, he said, extolling the progress cricket had made in the war-torn country in recent years.  

ACB Patron-in-Chief Shahzada Massoud welcomed Tajikistan’s visit, the first by any foreign team to Afghanistan. He hoped the two sides would play good cricket during the tour.

Nangarhar’s Deputy Governor Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal assured the visiting team that the provincial government, despite its limited resources, would try to provide them all possible facilities.

Dr Noor Mohammad Murad, the ACB chief executive, hailed the tour by the Tajikistan team as a major development and hoped other nations would follow suit.

He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kenya were willing to send their squads to Afghanistan. Talks in this regard were recently held, Murad added. “ACB is now capable of hosting foreign teams.”

Afghanistan-A team coach Raees Ahmadzai told Pajhwok Afghan News his players had practiced well for the matches. He was optimistic of the boys showing their worth.

Visiting captain Ahmad Shah said though his side was pretty new, yet it was prepared for the encounters. “Our basic objective is training, but we will try to do our bit.”

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