The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) hosted ‘Koh-e-Zafar’ (Mountain of Triumph), a special event on Wednesday that brought together ACB and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials, along with Indian and Afghan cricketers as well. The special evening also celebrated the long-standing history and friendship between the two boards while recognising the shared cricketing journey and the strong relationship over the years.

However, India and Afghanistan are currently playing a three-match T20I series at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. India have already sealed the series by winning the first two matches, with the third and final T20I scheduled for Thursday as well. Speaking at the event, India’s T20I team skipper Shreyas Iyer applauded Afghanistan’s fighting spirit and the strong relationship both teams have.

“They are indomitable in their approach, and whenever they step onto the field, they always put up a fight with a smiling face. So, it’s obviously a great relationship and interaction that we have with them whenever they come to India, or we meet them at any of the ICC events,” he said.

“I had a brief interaction with Ibrahim as well yesterday. He was quite hungry and disappointed that they lost the series, but you could see the hunger they had to win. They want to go ahead and improve their skills as much as possible. So yeah, it’s always a nice gesture when they come here and perform to the best of their abilities and ensure that they win; they want to win the series. So, I’m glad that we get this opportunity to play with them now and then, and it’s a competitive series overall,” he further added.

Shreyas Iyer also praised the growing relationship between India and Afghanistan, sharing the support Indian and Afghan fans have shown both teams over the years as well.

“I want to say that the relationship since the time we’ve been playing cricket against Afghanistan has blossomed over the years, and the love and support we have been getting from Afghan fans as well, especially when we travel outside for games, has been commendable. My one message is that I don’t think we need to give them a message because all of them are so skilful and talented in their own way. It’s just that, once they start winning matches, they’ll keep building confidence. They are playing at the highest level. We’ve seen in the past how good they are as a team. It’s just a matter of time; once they start winning consistently, they will definitely move up the ranks,” he shared.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi also said playing in India, including in the IPL, has provided him and his teammates with valuable experience. He again added that Afghanistan have fond memories of playing in India and they are always happy to compete there.

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“It’s helped a lot since 2017. We played in the IPL and started there. Before 2016, we played the World Cup there, and we won one game against the West Indies. The West Indies went on to win the World Cup. It’s always a pleasure to play there, and we get a lot of experience from playing in the IPL. We’re always really happy to play in India,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Zadran said Afghanistan have received strong support from fans in Delhi and across India over the years as well. He also expressed gratitude for the love and encouragement they continue to receive whenever they play in the country, stating that it means a lot to the team.

“If you look at the past, we have got lots of support from the people of Delhi when we had games here, and now we are playing against India. We all know that, but we are still getting that support from them. Whenever I come to India, whenever I come to Delhi, we get lots of love and support from the people, from the fans of Delhi, and from the people of India. We always appreciate that; we always enjoy that. It means a lot to us,” he said.

However, Ishan Kishan also praised Afghanistan’s players for their competitive spirit and he also said that India’s familiarity with them through the IPL makes the contests interesting too.

“It’s always fun playing against them because we have also played in the IPL together, and we all know what good human beings they are. So it’s always good learning from them. Especially, I’ve played with Nabi bhai at Mumbai Indians, and he used to help me a lot during batting sessions as well, explaining how he was planning to bowl. So it’s always good to learn from them. Plus, like Iyer bhai said, the hunger they show when we play against them and how they look to take wickets every time. Everything is on the positive side, so we always love to play against the Afghanistan team,” he said.