Afghanistan slowly makes its mark in the world of cricket

The nation which was being recognized for being war-prone has been rising with the might of being among the other nations in a short period of time. As Afghanistan, is all set for their opening encounter of the 2019 World Cup against Australia.

It was in the year 1995, when the Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed. In 2001, it was elected as an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Afghanistan had Made its debut in ODI cricket in the year 2009, being up against Scotland, they had marked a comprehensive 89-run victory.

They were Qualified for the World T20 at the Caribbean in 2010, which was their first high-profile global tournament. They lost both their matches, but they were honored to be playing against some of their heroes from India and South Africa.

Afghanistan had played their first ODI against a full member of the ICC when they took on Pakistan in a one-off match at Sharjah in 2012. And it Became an associate member of the ICC by 2013.

They had played their maiden 50-over World Cup in 2015. By making their World Cup debut against Bangladesh in Canberra, which was their first win in the tournament. In the same year, they had also entered the top-10 of the ODI rankings for the first time.

In 2016 they had defeated West Indies in the World T20 in a group game in Nagpur.

They were granted full membership of the ICC along with Ireland in 2017.

A cut was made by Afghanistan in 2018, for the 2019 World Cup after they had won the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. They also made their Test debut against India in Bengaluru. During the Asia Cup in UAE, they defeated Sri Lanka and tied the game with India.

They marked their maiden Test victory, by beating Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.