Follow UsImagine coming in at 3/1 against Australia in a do-or-die game in the Champions Trophy, especially after the well-established opener is cleaned up by a peach of a delivery by a really quick bowler with the ball doing a bit.
That was the situation Sediqullah Atal found himself in at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 28 (Friday). Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis were moving the ball both ways in the powerplay, making life difficult for the batters. Luckily for Atal, Johnson was a tad wayward and could not really get into a rhythm.
The ball beat his inside edge, outside edge and, on one occasion, the outside edge fell short of first slip. He was an 6 off 25 at one point, but if the past is anything to go by, Afghanistan have shown they are more than capable of making up for the dots.
Once he got his eye in, Atal punished anything loose. He clipped deliveries off his legs and drove any overpitched delivery. He did not throw it away when boundaries were not coming. In fact there was a 45-ball window where there were none, yet he did not throw it away, building a 67-run stand with Ibrahim Zadran, his teammate from the Under-19 World Cup 2020, and then another vital 68 runs with his skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi.
He got to his fifty off 64 balls with a six over long-on off Glenn Maxwell, which was a terrific effort given how slow he started off. He was well set and was eyeing a big score. With conditions also easing up for batting, a big score was indeed there for the taking.
It looked like that would be the case, especially after he was given a life after the umpire turned down a LBW appeal when he was on 74. Australia did not review a certain dismissal, which could have proved costly.
He marked that with a 79m six off Adam Zampa, and just when it looked certain that he would get to three figures, he unfortunately lobbed one straight to cover.
Atal's hunger and ability to have an impact in the innings was evident in the Men's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024-25, where he scored a fifty in each of his five innings to help Afghanistan beat India and Sri Lanka en route to the title.
He has also showcased excellent leadership skills as well, as he not only delivered with the bat (276 runs, SR 182.78) in the Kabul Premier League 2023 T20 tournament but also led Shaheen Hunters to the title.
His talent was recognised by Mumbai Indians (MI), who wasted no time in drafting him into the team in the SA20. The MI franchise is known for their top-notch scouting, and clearly, they were shrewd in roping him in. And how does Atal respond? He smashes a 46-ball 74 in just his second game against Pretoria Capitals at Newlands, hitting as many as six maximums.
The 23-year-old made a slow start to his international career with just 96 runs in his nine T20I innings, but he is slowly finding his groove in ODIs. He has hit a century and two fifties in his last five innings, indicating early on that the 50-over format is where he is at his best.
Afghanistan are on the rise as a cricketing nation, and Atal's emergence is perhaps the start of the scary depth they possess.