Afghanistan could win an ICC tournament in the next decade: Steyn

New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) South Africa pace legend Dale Steyn reckons the fast-rising Afghanistan can go on to win an ICC limited-overs tournament in the next decade if their players learn how to play patiently.

Overcoming war and instability in their nation, the Afghanistan cricket team has evolved from an affiliate member to a formidable force in white-ball tournaments.

They almost reached the knockouts in the 2023 ODI World Cup, defeating former champions England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan while they were the semifinalists at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they knocked out Australia.

“We live in a time now where people are not patient enough. We can hardly watch two seconds on an Instagram story and it just feels like the Afghanistan players are similar when they’re playing their cricket,” Steyn said on ESPNCricinfo.

“Patience is one of the biggest things that Afghanistan players need to learn, and once they get that down, honestly, in the next decade, they could win ICC tournaments, for sure.

“They want things to happen so quickly. This ball must be a wicket, there’s no patience to building up and taking a wicket. The batters are the same sometimes, they’re batting in the first over. There’s so much movement happening in the crease, so they’re trying to hit a six and they’re trying to get the game going,” Styen noted.

At the Champions Trophy, the Afghans were in a three-way battle to reach the semifinals with Australia and South Africa after the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side defeated England.

However, the loss to South Africa in their opener cost them dearly as the “virtual quarterfinal” against Australia was washed out 13 overs into the second innings with both teams splitting points.

Mathematically the Afghans can still qualify if England beat South Africa by a huge margin on Saturday, but the chances of that happening are minimal as the Proteas have a healthy 2.140 net run rate compared to Afghanistan’s -0.990.

The South African feels playing four-day first-class cricket could teach the Afghanistan players how to build their innings, which will also help them improve their game in the 50-over format.

“Back in the day, a lot of players would go play county cricket. Or they would go play first-class cricket to improve their skills and improve their patience really,” Steyn said.

“I think a lot of them (Afghanistan players) play T20 cricket around the world, which is great, it’s great for their pockets and it’s great for them to learn.

“But, maybe, spending some time in four-day games might help, because one-day cricket is essentially a shortened version of a Test match.”