Follow UsThe rise of Afghanistan's cricket team is an incredible story of perseverance.
As the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once said in the presence of then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai, "If we are searching for a model of how to meet tough international challenges with skill, dedication and teamwork, we need only look to the Afghan national cricket team."
The Afghan Cricket Board was formed in 1995, but it took years of "blood, sweat, and tears" before the team became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2001. Since then, the nation has overcome every obstacle, and one of its key figures throughout this journey has been Hamid Hassan. Beyond his on-field success, Hassan is the first Afghan cricketer to play at Lord's, the home of cricket, after being invited by the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
His talent was quickly noticed, with English great Mike Gatting hailing him as "huge potential." As a player, Hassan was part of one of cricket's most remarkable success stories: a team that rose from Division Five to compete in the 2010 T20 World Cup.
In an exclusive interview with cricket.com during the 2024 Legends League Cricket (LLC), Hassan offered an in-depth look at Afghan cricket. He shared insights on its humble beginnings, explosive growth, the discovery of stars like Rashid Khan, and the team's current standing in cricket.
Q: Over the last 10 years, we have seen the rapid rise of Afghanistan cricket. How does it feel to see them become this successful?
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, you asked me for the last 10 years, but this journey started in 2000, 20 to 24 years ago. We used to play under the ACC. This is a beautiful journey. I joined the team in 2004, played Under-17, and then joined the national team in 2006.
When we qualified for Division 5 for the first time in an ICC competition, it was in Jersey where our cricket journey started. It was at such a stage that we had to win because if we lost, our cricket would go back 4-5 years. All our matches were do-or-die clashes.
We played non-stop till Division 1, and won almost all the matches. We lost only one game in Jersey during Division 5 against Oman. After that, we never even thought of losing. Even though we didn’t have the equipment or money, we kept a good environment going. We didn't have anything, not even proper ground. But one thing was that the intention and efforts were firm. Everyone was thinking positively.
We wanted to qualify for the 2011 World Cup in India, but unfortunately, we couldn’t. But when we came fifth in Division 1, we got ODI status, and from there, we kept growing. So Alhamdulillah, if you see now, Afghanistan cricket has gone to the next level, where we are playing the world’s top teams and beating them.
Q: When you started playing cricket, the infrastructure wasn't great and there weren't too many grounds back in Afghanistan. What were some of the things that Afghanistan cricket lacked back then? How did you guys overcome all those struggles?
Back then, we didn't have a domestic cricket system. All the players would only get together for one tour every year or two. We had a small, old stadium on 100 acres called Chaman Uzuri. The ground was just a cement wicket in the middle of a field with no grass.
Everything happened there — including horse riding and car racing, sometimes right in the middle of a match. We'd have to wait for them to finish. This was the situation in 2002-03, when I played in a T20 tournament. We had nothing—no money, no proper facilities.
When we played division cricket, 17-18 boys used to get money from the management. So 25-27 people used to go with us on the tour, and we used to get $50 daily. We used to divide our daily allowance by 27 because of everyone’s commitment, friendship, and love. No one played cricket for money, and until 2010, I took money from home, friends, and my brother.
Till 2010, we played for free. Whatever match fees we got ($50), we used to divide them amongst ourselves. The boys' sacrifice and commitment at that point still makes me emotional. It was a very tough time. We started such a journey that it was unbelievable. And the boys wanted to take Afghanistan forward, win and qualify. Slowly, the team grew, and we won divisions.
When we qualified for the 2010 World Cup for the first time in the West Indies, it felt like we upgraded to a colour TV from a black-and-white. All our records were on ESPNCricinfo or on some ICC page. There were only reports that we did this, that no one saw us on TV.
When I used to go to Afghanistan, I played a lot of division cricket. Nabi, Afroz, Azgar, Karim bhai, no one in Afghanistan knew these players by their faces. But the craze was such that everyone backed us. As cricket kept growing, we had faith.
Look at cricket today, and you'll see that Afghanistan is producing some of the sport's biggest stars. Rashid Khan, Gurbaz, Ibrahim, Mujeeb, and Noor all play in franchise leagues worldwide.
When they were young, they watched our generation play and were inspired to represent Afghanistan. We were the ones who laid the foundation and created the platform for them to succeed. They came up through the U-17 and U-19 teams, went through countless trials, played in various matches, and that's where our cricketing journey truly began.
Q: You spoke briefly about Rashid, but can you tell us how you spotted him in the first place? There’s an interesting story behind how Afghanistan unearthed Rashid, right?
Yes, definitely, Rashid is a player who is born once in 100 or 1000s years. There are very few such unique players. Let me tell you the story behind Rashid Khan.
We have a photographer from Afghanistan who also works for ACB. His name is Hasrat Sadat. So he came to me and said, ‘Hamid bhai, I have brought a boy. See him, and you will like him’.
I like talent a lot. Whoever it is, star kid, poor, whoever it is, whoever has talent, I try to support them. So when Rashid came, he greeted me. So our team was formed. I had organised a tournament, where all the Afghan players were there.
So when Rashid arrived, I told him to show his ‘Jalwa’ (Magic). We want to see your bowling, as we have heard a lot of praise about you. So he bowled two balls. As soon as he threw the ball, I told him, ‘You will play for my team too, but you will become a big star. From now on, I can see a big star in you’.
He was laughing. He said, ‘Hamid bhai, don't joke’. Rashid was a small kid. I saw him in 2015. After two years, he started to rise. He played the [T20] World Cup in 2016. Then came the IPL. It was an unbelievable journey. I told him that, within the next two years, you will play all the leagues in the world. That's what happened. God gifted him. God has given him a unique hand.
He’s quite a dedicated player. If I talk about the last World Cup [2023], he played with a back injury; he had an injection and a tape throughout. No matter how much I praise him, it will be less.
Q: Rashid now has over 650 T20 wickets. How much do you think he will have by the time he retires from cricket?
From what I know about Rashid, he is a total fitness enthusiast. His discipline is incredible. You'll find him training from morning until evening. He has a strict diet, and no matter how tempting a dish might be, he won't even touch it if it has extra calories.
When he comes to training, he is only focused on his training. When he bowls, he is only focused on bowling. May Allah give him more success and health. If he remains fit, plays well, then Afghanistan cricket will greatly benefit. I said 1000 [wickets], but Insha Allah, he will cross 1500 wickets.
Q: Around 2005-06, both Mohammad Nabi and you got yourself a scholarship and a chance to play cricket in England. Could you talk about that experience?
It was amazing. I have said this a lot in the media – I got an offer for England, and our cricket was zero then. We went to England for the first time. There were seven matches in England with the big counties. You can search and find which counties we beat – Glamorgan, Sussex, Leicestershire, Essex, and Loughborough.
It was all big clubs, and all the good players were playing then. Our team just went to play and win. We played seven matches and won and lost one. All the foreigners were like ‘Who are these people?’ We didn't see England or the green pitches; we were just trying to win the matches.
Whoever got a chance, they played with proper responsibility. I got an offer to play for England, and I was told that I would get a passport to represent England. Robin Marlar, who was MCC’s president during that time (2005/06), saw me in Mumbai for the first time. We had a match against MCC. Nabi hit a century, I got three wickets, and broke a few toes. He liked it a lot. When we went to England, he asked our coach to allow me to play for them.
He told him, ‘We will give him free admission in Cambridge for two years, a daily allowance of 500, and we will get him a residence permit in two years.’
I called my father and told him that I had an offer to play for England. He said, ‘No, you will only play for Afghanistan’. I thought we didn’t have good cricket at that time; I could have made my life better, but my dad insisted that I never bring Afghanistan’s name down.
Then, I went and told Marlar, ‘I started my career in Afghanistan, and I want to take that forward’. Our cricket then grew, and people started showering us with love. I don’t think I would have ever got that in England.
I still have the honour of serving my country as a bowling coach. It's an incredible feeling of pride to do something meaningful for the team and for the nation.
Q: You have been associated with Afghanistan cricket as a bowling coach for some time now. Could you talk about the progress made by the bowlers? How pleased are you with their efforts?
For the past 18 months, I've had the pleasure of serving as the bowling coach for the team, and I'm incredibly happy with how we've performed over the last two to three years. It’s been a rewarding experience, especially since I've known many of our seamers, including Naveen, Fazal, Fareed, and Azmat, since they were young. I watched them grow from the U-17 and U-19 teams, and because of that history, it's been easy to coach them. Their willingness to listen and learn has been a huge part of our success.
No matter how much I praise Naveen, Farooq or Azmat, they are hardworking. I discussed with Fazal [Farooqi] about why he’s avoiding going to the gym. Luckily, he understood it, and now he is going to the gym, and his bowling has improved greatly. Skill-wise, mentally and physically. I am trying to make them physically strong and fit to perform well on the ground. If you look at the fitness of our team, compared to two years ago, it has improved a lot.
The fielding has improved. Bowling, batting, like Gurbaz, Ibrahim, Azmat, Rahmat, we have another side of T20 with different players. We have a proper side for T20. However, we are not the best when it comes to Test because we play very few matches. If we play against top teams regularly, we will improve in ODIs and Tests.
There weren’t too many pathways before this for first-class cricket; players don’t have that kind of knowledge or experience on how to play. Players who play well in the longest format can be good ODI or T20 players. Look at all the top players; none have gone from T20s to Tests.
For example, players such as Rohit, Kohli, and Williamson play three formats because they have seen the battle of Test cricket. If you want to become a future star, you will need to have patience and appreciate the value of making runs. If the mind is stuck in T20s, then the player’s progress will also decrease. We are trying to help them progress, all our coaching staff, including our head coach, Mr Jonathan Trott, are working to make it better.
I would also like to thank the board for their unwavering support of this generation of players. Icons like Rashid and Naveen are the face of modern Afghanistan cricket. Our mission is for them to become idols for the next generation of cricketers, inspiring them for the next 10 or 20 years. If the players continue on this path, and with a little luck, Afghanistan might just win the World Cup someday.