Taliban congratulates Afghan team for T20 World Cup performance, thanks India for ‘continuous help’

Foreign Affairs Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban-led government Amir Khan Muttaqi video-called cricket captain Rashid Khan to congratulate the country's team on its performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup sports tournament.

In a post on the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) posted a video of the congratulatory call. “The country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, congratulated Rashid Khan, the Afghan team captain, on reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup and wished the team more success. You can listen to their full telephone conversation here.”

Afghan fans poured into the streets to celebrate the achievement. Among world cricketers who congratulated the feat include Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, and Kamran Akmal.

Taliban thank India for 'capacity building'

Meanwhile, the Taliban government has also thanked India for its "continuous help" in capacity-building the Afghan cricket team, according to a report by WION.

"We are thankful for India’s continuous help in capacity building of the Afghan Cricket Team. We really appreciate that," Taliban's Head of the Political Office, Suhail Shaheen, told the publication.

Notably, over the last years, India has been providing the Afghan cricket team with corporate sponsorships, training players in Indian stadiums and granted $1 million for the construction of the Kandahar cricket stadium with a grant of $1 million.

Further, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has allowed the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida as a temporary "home ground" for the Afghan team.

India also hosted Afghanistan's first-ever Test match in 2018 and has several Afghan players in its Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, including Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

'Proved Brian Lara right', says Rashid Khan

Reflecting on the South Asian team's historic entry into the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup semi-finals, Khan recalled West Indies legend Brian Lara's month-old prediction that Afghanistan would reach this milestone.

Afghanistan entered the T20 semifinals for the first time after defeating Bangladesh by eight runs (DRS) in the Super 8 contest at the Arnos Vale Ground on June 25.

"I think the semi-final is going to be a massive, massive inspiration for the youngsters back home in Afghanistan. That Afghanistan team got into the semis for the first time. We have done it under the 19 level, but at this level, we haven't done that. Even Super Eight was the first time for us, and then in semis. It's an unbelievable feeling, and I think we have proved one person very right — Brian Lara, the only person who mentioned Afghanistan as being in the top four in semis. I think we told him that as well when we met him at the welcome party — we will make sure we prove that right as well," Rashid said in a post-match press conference.

"I think when you get the kind of great, great statements from a legend, as a team, I think it gives you lots of energy as well. We are capable — but as long we keep things very simple and I think in the whole competition so far, we kept things simple. Yes, there were some tough times, but we didn't let ourselves down, and we always try to come back stronger," he added.

Rashid said that self-belief played a big part in their fiery T20 WC campaign and they plan to "execute" things right.

"You need to have that kind of self-belief that we are capable of beating any side as long we do the right thing at the right time and we're making sure we keep the thing simple. And that's why I think they did the same as well. They kept things simple. They came with their plans and tried to execute them and make sure we are right in that planning and that's how they performed in the whole competition," Rashid said.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)