ICC World Cup-2023: Afghanistan Team Is Not Only Winning Matches But Also Hearts Of Indian Fans; What Social Media Users Are Saying?

Afghanistan cricket team is performing brilliantly and defeated many teams considered to be much stronger than it in the ongoing ICC World Cup-2023 tournament in India. After the Team India, the team which is getting the maximum love from the domestic fans is Afghanistan.

Afghanistan team first created a big upset by defeating defending champion England and then created history by defeating Pakistan. But on Monday, when the Afghan team easily defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets, sports analysts called it a victory for Afghanistan. Now this cannot be called an 'upset'. Rather, it can be said that this team has emerged as a permanent force on the horizon of cricket.

If cricket fans in India are supporting any team after their home team, it is Afghanistan. This love is not limited only to the fans, but famous players and commentators like Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh were also seen dancing joyfully after the victory of the Afghanistan team.

Afghan team members are thanking fans for their support

 
Afghans and Afghan team members are praising Indians on social media and thanking them for their support.

There are historical and political reasons behind this. Although Afghanistan and India do not share border, there are historical ties between the two. India is liked more in Afghanistan than Pakistan and now the situation is the same in India also.

BCCI gave training to Afghan players

 
There is no doubt that players from Pakistan trained and helped build up the Afghanistan team. But when their support ended, India trained players from Afghanistan. BCCI gave them training in Noida and Dehradun near Delhi.

According to the cricket experts, the old relations between the two countries are also important in this matter. Now that India's matches against Pakistan are limited to ICC tournaments only, the Afghanistan team has gained more popularity in India.

 

Now more Afghan players are likely to be seen in IPL

 

Due to political reasons, there are no Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League i.e. IPL, whereas Afghan players are seen here. Because of this, there is a kind of connect with them among the cricket fans.

But from the performance shown by the Afghanistan cricket team in the current World Cup, it seems that now more Afghan players will be seen in the IPL.

 

What social media users are saying?

There is a lot of discussion on social media about the inclination of the Afghanistan team towards India and the love they are getting here.

An X (formerly Twitter) user named Arfa Firoz Zaki wrote, "Afghanistan players learned cricket in Pakistan but the surprising thing is that they always called India their second home. Afghans have always supported India against Pakistan."

Another user writes, "BCCI deserve credit for their unwavering support towards the Afghan cricket team by giving them a stadium to host international matches. They provided them facilities and coaching when they did not have any training facilities. BCCI contributed to the development of cricket in Afghanistan. If BCCI was not there, Afghan players' journey would have been a little more difficult."

Many users have agreed with him.

A user named Anupama Singh wrote, "This is absolutely true and the support the Afghanistan team has received in India is at a different level and all the players are grateful for it. We want to see this support grow by leaps and bounds."

Journalist Nazrana Yousafzai wrote that "The Afghanistan team is playing with zero support from the Taliban government and has achieved a lot so far. This is a display of world-class sports."