Afghanistan has recently been one of the cricketing nations with the fastest growth. They have, albeit on a few occasions, been able to compete head-to-head with some of the top teams in the world in a relatively short period of time. The ‘Blue Tigers’ fans have always supported them, despite the fact that they haven’t always had favorable outcomes while playing against more well-known rivals.
Afghanistan’s supporters make it a point to follow the team wherever they play because they do not play in their home country. Since one of their officials said that they are giving out their allotted number of tickets to the fans during the games in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, the Afghanistan players are also returning the favor. The authority further claimed that Afghanistan teams have historically followed this custom.
“The custom has existed for a while. We provided tickets to the supporters in Dubai. We carried out the same action when Sri Lanka and Pakistan jointly hosted the 2023 Asia Cup with Afghanistan. The trend is still present during the World Cup, the team official told this newspaper.
“Usually, the players ask me for tickets. Typically, each player or official receives three to five tickets. Players put together their tickets for fans once I give them their quota. We save these tickets in an envelope and put them at the team hotel’s front desk when fans ask for them. The fans then pick it up there,” he continued.
In their upcoming World Cup match, Afghanistan faces a difficult opponent.
The ODI World Cup 2023 season has not gotten off to the best of beginnings for Hashmatullah Shahidi‘s team. They lost by six wickets to Bangladesh in their opening game of the 10-team league. India, a former two-time champion, easily defeated Afghanistan in their second match.
The Asian team’s next match will now take place on Sunday, October 15 in Delhi against the reigning world champions, England. Afghanistan currently has a net run rate (NRR) of -1.907 and is at the bottom of the points table.