BENGALURU: Hand on his heart and tears in his eyes, 22-year-old Anees Haleem sang the Afghanistan national anthem. The newest entrants into the elite field, having achieved Test status, kept their date with history at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday.
Among the 9000-odd weekday spectators in the stands, there were a handful of Afghan fans, mostly students, from across the country. A lot of them arrived early and have been milling around the team hotel over the past few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. They flew in from Hyderabad and Pune on Wednesday, complete with national flags, sporting black pathan suits which had their national colours – black, red and green -- embroidered on it.
Haleem, from Nagahan province, and his five friends, who study at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, prepared for their date with history months in advance. When they last visited home, they came prepared with flags of different sizes.
Speaking about the emotions running through him and others when watching his team in white flannels, the 22-year-old told TOI, “It is such a blessed moment for all Afghans here and back home. Our team has played international cricket in other formats, but Test cricket is the real deal. We grew up watching other countries play Test cricket, to see our team now in whites is a special feeling.”
Haleem, who also plays some cricket, explained. “I completely teared up when I heard the national anthem. It is difficult to explain the feeling of watching your national team in whites.”
Haleem’s friend Rahimulla, who hails from Khost said, “We knew we had to watch this match, so we asked our families to send us extra money to travel to Bengaluru and they obliged.”
Bengaluru has a 100-member strong Afghan community but only about 20 made it to the stadium on the opening day with most of them having retuned home for their annual vacation which began earlier this month.
Asghar Stanikzai and his team’s entry into the international cricket scene is like soothing balm on the minds and hearts of people from the war-ravaged country.
“It is a big achievement for us as a nation. The result here does not matter, what matters is the fact our team has made it till here. We are very proud of the team. People are celebrating the historic moment. Given the trouble back home—there was a terror attack yesterday (Wednesday) as well— cricket is one thing that brings a smile on our face,” pointed out Kabul-born Suliman, a BSc student at Brindavan college and an ardent Mohammad Nabi fan.
The rain interruptions notwithstanding, the Afghan fans, who wildly cheered every run saved and each maiden over bowled, were a happy lot.
Summing up the feelings, Suliman added, “We can now proudly say, ‘We witnessed history.”