Afghanistan National Cricket Team created history on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, as they qualified for a semifinal of an ICC event for the first time in their cricketing history. They achieved the feat by defeating Bangladesh and entering the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 has been fantastic for the Afghanistan cricket team as they performed brilliantly in the two competition beating teams like Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, England. Amidst this as Afghanistan cricket reaches a new milestone, the Taliban has thanked India for the capacity building that has been provided by Delhi for many years. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi Congratulates Rashid Khan on a Video Call After Afghanistan Qualify for Semi-Final of T20 World Cup 2024 (Watch Video).

According to WION, Taliban's Head of the Political Office, Suhail Shaheen said, "We are thankful for India’s continuous help in capacity building of the Afghan Cricket Team. We really appreciate that." Since the last few years, India has provided capacity building to Afghan cricket by providing training to the players in Indian stadiums, sponsorship by Indian companies among other things. Delhi's support was key to building the Kandahar cricket stadium with a grant of $1 million.  ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Rashid Khan Says Afghanistan Qualifying for Semifinals Is 'Something Like a Dream' (Watch Video).

India were the first team to play Afghanistan in a Test match back in 2018. The Afghan players including Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz have all been regulars in IPL getting exposure. Not only physical infrastructure, but the BCCI provided the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida as a temporary "home-ground" for the Afghan team. Another home ground was provided in Dehradun. Afghanistan has been given permission by BCCI to play in the Greater Noida Stadium for their upcoming series against Bangladesh. This reflects that the gratitude from the Taliban officials has not come in vain.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2024 07:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).