South African legend Dale Steyn has praised Afghanistan’s growth and backed them to win an ICC tournament within the next decade.
Afghanistan men’s 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 England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
After defeating mighty Australia, they also reached the semifinals in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
With defeating England on a high chase encounter in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, Dale Steyn has said, “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.”
“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,” Dale Styen noted.
However, their semi finals dream in the Champions Trophy rests on the result of the clash between South Africa and England.
But their qualification is clearly the ‘Virtual quarterfinal’ against Australia was washed out 12 overs into the second innings with both teams splitting points.
The South African feels playing four-day first-class cricket could teach the Afghanistan players how to build their innings, which will help Afghanistan team to improve their game in 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,” Dale 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.”
Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghanistan lost to South Africa by 107 runs in the opening game of the Champion Trophy 2025. The loss has minimized their chances of qualifying for the last four.
Meanwhile Steve Smith‘s Australia have already qualified for the semi-finals from the same group.
