Afghanistan Cricket Becoming a Spin-Bowling Powerhouse

Over the years, Afghanistan cricket has produced phenomenal spinners in the cricketing world. Each comes to the scene with a unique ability. Their hunger to play the game and win matches for the country differs from nobody else’s. Each has their skillset, which makes them valuable to the team. The variety in the Afghanistan spin department makes them a threatening team on the turning track.

Afghanistan Cricket producing Spinners and the various factors affecting their rise:

Prominent Spinners in the Team

The Afghanistan team has three main spinners in their squad who have won the team countless matches over the years. Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have been the backbone of the team for a long time. They have contributed immensely to the rise of the Afghanistan team in the international arena. Their accuracy in bowling makes them difficult to read and play big shots against.

Geographical Influence and Role Models

One of the prominent reasons for a lot of Afghani spinners coming to the forefront is their participation in the leagues across the globe. The assistance from the BCCI and the Asian conditions shifted the attention of Afghan youngsters from pace bowling to spin bowling. Idolizing Rashid, and Nabi, the youngsters saw themselves getting an opportunity to feature in the leagues. The demand for varieties in the world of cricket allowed them to pick spin as a chief weapon. Most spin countries face the challenge of lack of variety in their bowling circuit. Thus, they remain stuck to their prime bowlers, giving fewer chances to the second option available.

Back when Nabi started playing for the country, there weren’t many players to look up to. With the arrival of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb into the international circuit and their achievement, many young kids started to look at them as their role models. The trio heavily influenced the younger generation to pick cricket as their profession and excel in it.

Also contributing to the rise of Afghanistan spinners are the assistance and support from the cricketing boards of India and the UAE, both boards help the Afghanistan team to host their home tours, thus opening the floor for their preparation.

Varieties in the Spin and Comparison to the Other Countries 

At this time, Afghanistan holds the upper hand in the variety of spin bowlers in their asylum across all the formats. Often in 2-3 years, Afghanistan comes up with a new spinner with different techniques and variety. Afghanistani talents cover all the bases of spin such as off-spin, chinaman, left-arm orthodox, and traditional right-arm leg-break. The variety makes it difficult for the opposition to settle down easily and take on the spinners. 

Afghanistan cricket keeps giving regular chances to their backup spinners frequently in their playing 11. Since their regular and key players remain busy in the leagues across the world, the backups also get enough opportunities to show their potential to the world of cricket. As a result, Afghani spinners come into the limelight and get regular chances to show their talent in league cricket.

While comparing with the spin-dominating nations such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, it looks like Afghanistan is far ahead in producing quality spin bowlers with a wide range variety at least in the white-ball formats. Afghani spinners have troubled many prominent teams in the last few ICC tournaments.

Not just in varieties of spinners, the Afghanistan spinners differ from others in the phase a few of them bowl. More of a spin-focused nation, the spinners come into play during the powerplay and at the death over as well. Their ability to absorb pressure and perform genuinely well makes them a different breed.

Upcoming Talents

The Afghanistan team has done a commendable job in finding out the next trio of spin departments. The upcoming trio could be the mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar, or the left-arm wrist spinners Noor Ahmad and Waqar Salamkheil. These three can continue the legacy of the current trio and do an incredible job for the country. These three have performed outstandingly in the limited opportunities they have got in franchise cricket. Some of them are backed by big and popular franchises such as CSK and MI across the different leagues.

This shows the depth that the Afghanistan team has in their spin pool. They have shown and proven to the world that they can beat any team and pose a threat in the tournament. The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy will be interesting to watch and a big opportunity yet again for them.