Do you think you can compete with the major international teams?
Nobody knows if we can beat them one day. Cricket is a funny game sometimes. We have a very good team and some talented players, so if we work very hard and get better facilities in the future, who knows what will happen. England, India and Australia are all big teams, but I am sure we would try very hard against them and hopefully they would be impressed by the Afghanistan cricket team.
Who are your star players?
I would have to say that all of our players are stars. All of the players are doing their best for the country and working very hard all together. I can’t say one player is a bigger star than anybody else.
How much support do you receive back at home?
People are very keen to follow us and they pray for us to do well. When we won the ACC Twenty20 trophy last year in the UAE, when we came back to Afghanistan, there were thousands of people on the road for the 20km from the airport to the town. They follow the team all the time and this is good for us as we now have fans all over the world.
Will you have lots of support in the UAE?
I am getting lots of e-mails and messages to my Facebook account from Afghan fans living in the UAE saying that they are going to support me. They are hopeful we can all qualify from this tournament and play in the ICC World Twenty20.
What are facilities like in Afghanistan?
We now have a very good Academy in Afghanistan in Jalalabad, and other players are playing in Kabul, whereas before we had to go to Pakistan. Most of our players are now playing their cricket in Afghanistan.
How popular is cricket in Afghanistan?
Cricket is very popular and in the last two years you now see everybody playing on the street. There are now hundreds and thousands of fans. If we walk down the road when we are in Afghanistan, everybody knows us. The people show a lot of respect for us.
What would it mean to qualify for the ICC WT20?
Our dream was to play in the World Cup in 2011 and we didn’t quite achieve it, but this event is a chance for us to qualify for a big event and play against the biggest teams in the world like India and South Africa. If we play against them we will fight very hard and in Twenty20 cricket we hope that we will get a good result. Lots of people all over the world have been waiting for this moment and want to watch us play live on television. Our U19 team has played on television at the U19 World Cup and we want to have the chance to do the same.
