Afghanistan has shown the world, and have firmly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in international cricket.

Their phenomenonal performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 has given them maiden entry to semi-final of this seasons World Cup.

They have defeated stunning and cricket gaints like Australia and New Zealand.

They have literally shown what the nerves of steel actually look like and they certainly deserve all the praise heaped onto them for rising from the ashes to make a name for themselves on a global stage.

Once considered as minnows and underdogs in world cricket, Afghanistan started turning the tables with heroics in the ODI World Cup 2023, and boy.

Afghanistan achievements, grit and passion towards the game would never end but it is highly noteworthy that India had a crucial role to play in picking up the standards of Afghanistan cricket and giving them a stage from where they can take off to go all the way up. Well… as it turns out, the helping hand has proven its worth.

Amid war torn Afghanistan, in 2015, the BCCI offered the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida as a temporary 'home ground' to the team. The BCCI, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), and the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority signed an MoU making the city their 'home' where their players trained, practiced, and played their 'home' international matches.

The Afghans even hosted a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Dehradun. Even Lucknow opened its doors for Afghanistan to lend them facilities at the ultra-modern Ekana Cricket Stadium, which was one of the venues for the ODI World Cup 2023. They played several practice matches in some other Indian cities, including Surat.

In 2014, the Indian government had approved the grant of $1 million for the construction of a cricket stadium in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar.

Former Indian players Lalchand Rajput and Manoj Prabhakar have coached the Afghanistan team, the latter as bowling coach. Meanwhile, Ajay Jadeja was the mentor for them in the ODI World Cup 2023.