GUNSHOTS & WATER CANNON: HOW AFGHAN FANS CELEBRATED THEIR HISTORIC VICTORY

As soon as Naveen-ul-Haq trapped Mustafizur Rahman to hand Afghanistan the biggest win in their cricket history, it led to a huge outburst of emotions at the Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent.

The Afghans ran on the ground in jubilation, while Bangladesh players hit the turf in disbelief as they lost the match from a position of strength, while chasing a modest 114 in 19 overs.

© X/ICC

All-rounder Gulbadin Naib, who lay on the ground holding his hamstring a few minutes ago, ran the fastest among all his teammates, as they raced towards the dugout to celebrate the momentous occasion.

Not just the ground, millions of people, sitting thousands of miles away from the actual proceedings, displayed the similar emotional outburst. Delighted with their team’s historic victory, thousands of people flocked to the streets to give this humongous win, the celebration it deserves.

From Khost to Paktia province, people gathered in large numbers in different parts of the nation to enjoy one of the biggest wins in their sporting history. From dancing on the streets to throwing colours on one another, the fans celebrated in myriad ways.

The most crazy celebration was observed in the Paktia province where people fired gunshots to express their happiness. This kind of celebration, you don’t expect to see anywhere else. There were also visuals of the security forces firing water cannons to control the crowd.

© X/mufaddalvohra

Afghanistan has come a long way in the last few years, beating the so-called stronger teams on a regular basis. They defeated England and Pakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup and would have ousted Australia from the tournament, if not for Glenn Maxwell’s heroics.

© X/T20 World Cup

In the group stage , they were pooled together with the West Indies and New Zealand, but that didn’t keep them from advancing to the next round. They stunned New Zealand to secure a Super 8s berth.

In the Super 8s stage, Rashid Khan’s team found themselves contesting against two heavyweights in India and Australia, and instead of getting bogged down, they finished their unfinished job from the last year, beating Australia for the first time in the shortest format.

Given their current form, don’t be surprised if Afghanistan continue with their winning momentum and knock South Africa out of the tournament in the semi-finals.

2024-06-25T11:46:25Z dg43tfdfdgfd