Afghanistan on Thursday celebrated their entry into Test cricket, saying it was a dream come true for the country that has suffered from years of violence and conflict.
The International Cricket Council voted in London to make Afghanistan, along with Ireland, full members of the organization, allowing those countries to become part of the elite 12 nations who play Test matches.
“I can’t express right now how excited I am,” Afghanistan Cricket Board team manager Shir Agha Hamkar said.
“It was a big dream of the cricket board, our team and every Afghan. Afghanistan has made tremendous progress, in the last few years. We have been playing very good cricket, beating full members like Zimbabwe,” he said at a celebration where a special cake was shared.
“Thanks to all the players as well. They have shown their talent to the world and shown that yes, we deserve to be a full member nation,” he said.
Afghanistan are likely to play their first Test match next year and are expected to continue to play home games in Noida, India, due to security concerns.
“Today is a historic day for the Afghan people, because in such a political situation of Afghanistan, Afghan cricket has obtained full membership status. Today is a historic day for Afghanistan, every Afghan is happy,” Afghanistan Cricket Board deputy chairman Dost Mohammad Nazari said.
Cricket has undergone a boom in recent years in Afghanistan with the rise of Twenty20 cricket, its big-hitting and constant action generating huge interest among fans.
A new generation of supporters has avidly followed the team’s growing success.
After a last-gasp victory over Zimbabwe last year, heavy gunfire broke out in Kabul as ecstatic supporters, who had watched on TV, fired automatic weapons into the air, lighting up the sky with tracer bullets and prompting initial fears of an attack by insurgents.
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