Raees Ahmadzai’s first conversation with Noor Ahmad lasted barely five minutes. The former Afghanistan captain spoke to the young left-arm wrist spinner about the nitty-gritty of spin bowling and how he could make an impact, going forward.
A shy, 13-year-old Noor listened and nodded. Hailing from the Lakan Spinki Bori village in the Khost Province, the young Noor looked a bit out of place in the new environment - at the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s junior camp in Kabul - and hardly spoke to the coaches or other trainees.
But a while later, as he hit the nets and troubled the batters with his spin, Ahmadzai had a smile on his face. Having worked with several youngsters in his long career, Ahmadzai was convinced that, if mentored well, this shy and quiet boy will make huge noise in world cricket.
And five years later, Noor has proven Ahmadzai right.
Noor featured in two U-19 World Cups for Afghanistan - in 2020 and in 2022. In the 2020 edition, in South Africa, he claimed seven wickets in five games with an economy of 3.93, whereas last year in the West Indies, he played a key role in guiding Afghanistan to the semifinals. He emerged as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps in six outings.
After featuring in the U-19 World Cups and breaking into the Afghanistan senior men’s team last year, Noor has paired with his compatriot Rashid Khan at Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, Noor and Rashid broke the back of Mumbai Indians’ batting. While Noor claimed three wickets, Rashid bagged a brace to restrict the star-studded Indians to 152 for 9, in pursuit of Titans’ 207-6.
Rashid is impressed with the young gun’s determination. According to Rashid, Noor keeps asking questions to his senior every time he is in the nets. And, that’s not all. Even at 1 am, Noor is ready to bowl a few googlies at the gym. That’s his level of dedication!
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Ahmadzai, however, is not surprised. Speaking to Sportstar from Kabul, the coach explained why Noor is different from a lot of his contemporaries. “His bowling style has been totally unique. He was quicker than normal left-arm spinners, so after I spotted him, I was sure that if we could give him some confidence, he can be a unique bowler,” Ahmadzai said.
Initially, not many were on the same page with Ahmadzai and did not rate Noor highly. That’s when, Ahmadzai started campaigning for him on social media and would put up his bowling pictures and videos. “After being with me in the U-19 team, I picked him for the Shpageeza Cricket League about four years ago. Being the coach of the Mis-Ainak team, I was convinced about his talent,” Ahmadzai said.
Mohammad Nabi was the captain of the Mis-Ainak team and ahead of the side’s training session, he walked up to Ahmadzai to know about the youngster. “Nabi asked me, ‘who’s this boy?’ I told him that he is a talented spinner and that he should have a look at him in the nets. Nabi listened to me and watched him bowl and was really impressed. Thereon, he kept encouraging Noor and that paid off, as the youngster bowled well in the first game itself,” he said.
‘Bhai, he is quicker than me’
Much before taking up cricket seriously, Noor would watch matches of the Afghanistan team on television with his friends. Like many other budding cricketers, he, too, wanted to emulate Rashid and don the national colours someday. Even when his elder brother Mohamad Noor put him in a cricket academy, he told the local coaches that he wanted to be ‘like Rashid’.
When Noor Ahmad first joined a cricket academy, he told his coaches that he wanted to be like Rashid Khan. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
Once the Afghanistan team was practising at the centre wicket in Kabul and Ahmadzai invited Rashid to have a look at the ‘very promising’ Noor. “Rashid had heard of him by then, but did not have any idea about his bowling. So, he happily agreed to turn up and watch Noor bowl. I asked him to bowl the wrong ‘one’ to the right-hand batter. Rashid looked at me and said, ‘ bhai, he is quicker than me’.”
The words of encouragement from his ‘idol’ boosted Noor’s confidence.
Soon after, the Afghanistan Cricket Board conducted a four-day game for young players where Noor not only bowled long spells but impressed with his batting abilities as well.
“In the Asia Cup in 2019, he scored 17 runs against Pakistan and tackled Naseem Shah really well. That’s another talent he has - he can bat in crunch times. During the T20 World Cup, I told him to bowl at least two to three overs before the match and he followed my advice,” Ahmadzai said. “He is very hardworking. Not for once did he say that he was tired. Before every match, he bowled for about three-four overs and then took the pitch. We are very lucky to have a natural talent like him.”
Interestingly, Nabi was the captain of Afghanistan, whereas Ahmadzai was the coach when Noor made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in June last year and claimed four wickets. And much before the Gujarat Titans brought him on board for a base price of Rs 30 lakh in the auction, Noor had travelled the world to be part of several franchise tournaments - including the Big Bash League, Lanka Premier League, The Hundred and the Pakistan Super League. While he would travel in and around, Noor never neglected his studies and those who know him, claim that he was a school-topper.
“Having played around the world has bolstered his confidence. He is a very intelligent guy and his elder brother has supported him a lot to chase his dreams,” Ahmadzai said. “When we played cricket, the families were not all co-operative. But now, with cricket emerging as the most popular sport in Afghanistan, every family is open to allowing their children to play cricket. That’s a huge boost for the game in the country.”
Back in 2017, when Nabi and Rashid broke into the IPL for the first time, it opened a new window of opportunities for the cricketers from Afghanistan. While several ‘mystery spinners’ have featured in the tournament over the last six years, Noor has been able to create a much-deserved hype around him. And, as he aims to scale the peak along with his ‘idol’ Rashid, the cricketing fraternity has huge expectations from the 18-year-old, who is already considered the next big thing from Afghanistan!
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