Hyderabad: Afghanistan and South Africa are engaged in a three-match ODI series currently. Afghanistan ensured a maiden series win over South Africa on Thursday. The Afghan bowlers have been clinical in their performance and they played a pivotal role in helping the team take a 2-0 lead.
Historical series win
In the first match of the series, Afghanistan wrapped up the South African innings on 106. Then, the team finished the chase in 26 overs. The team shone in the second match as well posting a total of 311 and skittled the opposition on a total of 134 registering a 177-run victory.
Playing without a home ground
Afghanistan haven’t had any opportunity to play at their home ground as teams usually do not want to tour the country due to security concerns. Domestic cricket is played in the city of Kabul and international stars also feature in it. As the teams do not want to visit Afghanistan, the teams play their matches in India, Dubai or Sharjah.
Home venue in India
Afghanistan cricket team started practising in Sharjah due to security concerns in the country. But, when the diplomatic ties between India and Afghanistan were in good condition, the Hamid Karzai government enabled Afghanistan to play in India. They made an agreement with India through which, the Greater Noida Cricket Stadium was declared as the home venue of the Afghanistan side.
Improvement during the coaching tenure of Ajay Jadeja
Ajay Jadeja played a key role in the Afghanistan team’s improvement during the 2023 ODI World Cup and the team impressed everyone with their performance in the tournament.
BCCI provides financial aid
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has provided financial assistance to Afghanistan for building cricket grounds in the country. India always aims to help Afghanistan and in a recent development, they have offered Afghans to play their matches at the grounds in Kanpur and Dehradun.
Brilliant recent form
Afghanistan’s recent form has been brilliant and they have beaten the top sides in recent months. They made it to the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 but were beaten by South Africa in the semis.
