After enjoying success in the different formats of the game in the past 15 months, Afghanistan is planning to use World Cricket League Division 1 in the Netherlands as its launching pad for future World Cup and World Twenty20 qualifying tournaments.

Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan said:

“We’re now hoping that the tournament in the Netherlands from 1 to 10 July will be a launching pad for our unfulfilled dreams which is to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. In addition to this, we’ll also be aiming to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 and 2014.”

“We are committed to using the opportunities to play against the Associate and Affiliate Members to improve and be as competitive as possible so that we can show the world that we belong to the higher group.

“The ICC World Cricket League Division 1 is a tough tournament and the one we haven’t played before as last time we entered as a Division 2 side and our matches were not classified as ODIs. But rest of the five sides in the tournament are extremely experienced and we can learn a lot of things from them,” Kabir said.

Afghanistan has retained 11 members from its World Cup Qualifier campaign in South Africa 15 months ago and the only newcomers are Mirwais Ashraf, Shabir Ahmad Noori, Aftab Alam and Mohammad Jawed Ahmadi.

Mirwais Ashraf and Shabir Ahmad Noori played in the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the West Indies in April-June while Aftab Alam and Jawed Ahmadi were members of the Afghanistan side that participated in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year.

Kabir said the changes were part of a rotation policy. “We have to rotate players so that we can develop a bench-strength which is strong, ready to step up and take over from the seniors as and when they decide to call it a day.

“It also helps bring competitiveness within the side as the players start realising that they can’t take things for granted and if they have to retain their places in the side, then they want to work extremely hard.

“While saying this, we have to adopt the rotation policy smartly because in our early days as an international side, we can’t afford to lose regularly. Today if people talk about us and consider us as a side that is capable of beating anyone, it is chiefly because of the number of matches we have won or what we have achieved in a small span of time. Had we started losing immediately after the South Africa tournament, people would have questioned our status and asked if we really deserved to be here.”

Kabir said the tournament in the Netherlands would be a tough one that would provide great learning curve to his young side. “For the first time, my boys will be playing for a long period of time in conditions which will change regularly. There will be interruptions due to weather and the wickets will be more suitable for the quickies.

“On top of these, they will be up against the five sides which have been featuring regularly in major ICC tournaments and carry loads of experience. It will come down to how quickly we adopt to the conditions and access what is required to excel in those conditions.

“Our bowlers have performed consistently well over the past 15 months but it has been the batting which at times as given us headaches. I think in the Netherlands, the batsmen will have to really apply and fire on a consistent basis so that the bowlers have something to bowl at,” Kabir said.

Afghanistan: Nowroz Khan Mangal (captain), Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, Karim Khan Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Shahzad Mohammadi, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shenwari, Noor Ali Noori, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shabir Ahmad Noori, Aftab Alam, Khalid Dad Noori, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Jawed Ahmadi.