Counting down to World Twenty20

We are counting down the days till the ICC World Twenty20 and we can’t wait for the action to begin. After savouring our victory in Dubai, we then achieved an amazing win in the ICC Intercontinental Cup over Canada, although I didn’t play any part in the game due to injury.

Finally, we then had a chance to go back home to celebrate with our people, and even though it was raining, there were still lots of people to greet us at the airport. There were lots of parties to attend in Kabul, which my brothers, cousins and uncles joined me for, and one of our sponsors even gave all of us a car! I haven’t been able to collect it yet – we are waiting for them to be delivered.

After spending six days in Kabul, there was finally time to go home to see my family in Jalalabad, which was very enjoyable, and my mother was very excited to see me. They had been following all the games as best as they could via the internet. While at home it was nice to get some rest, to help me recover from my injuries that I had sustained during the qualifier tournament, and the rehabilitation is going well.

We are now playing in the ACC Trophy in Kuwait where we have had a few exciting matches. I am not used to bowling off my short run that much, so against Bhutan I had a few problems with no balls. I actually took four wickets off no balls during that game, meaning I would have had ten wickets in the match, which I know is something that I need to work on. At ACC level you can get away with bowling no balls because I can back myself to cope with any batters trying to attack me on the free hit, but I think it will be a lot harder when you are facing some of the world’s best players at the ICC World Twenty20.

Before coming to Kuwait for the ACC event, we had a training camp in Lahore, which was a good experience, and it was great to play in a game against someone like Shoaib Akhtar. The fact our batters coped well against him should give us all confidence for when they have to face people like Dale Steyn in the Caribbean.

Although we want to win the ACC event, a lot of our focus is just on Twenty20 cricket and making sure that we arrive in the Caribbean ready to do our best. After we leave Kuwait, we have a training camp in Sharjah, and will then head to the West Indies for what will be the greatest experience of our lives. I can only imagine how excited our supporters back in Afghanistan are getting as well!