Usman Ghani
Usman Ghani - cricketer from Afganistan
Usman Ghani is one of the best cricketers in Afghanistan. Once again, he proved his class in the Shpageeza Cricket League in the 2020 season. The Band-e-Amir Dragons player scored the most runs — 355. Hashmatullah Shahidi (MIS Ainak Knights) is in second place in these standings — 339 runs. And Mohammad Shahzad (MIS Ainak Knights) did not reach the 300 rank mark — 291.
Usman Ghani: junior years
The cricketer, like many leaders of Afghan cricket, was born in Kabul. It is the capital of the country, and it has more than 4.4 million inhabitants. Usman Ghani was born in 1996. He started playing cricket early, which had a good effect on his level of preparation. At the age of 14, Ghani was attracted to the national team of his age. The Usman acts as a batsman. He throws and hits balls with his right hand.
The young player did not get lost in the Afghanistan Under-19 team. At the World Cup in 2014, he helped the partners to perform well. The Afghan national team took second place in the group stage, defeating Namibia and Australia. In the 1/4 finals, the team fought South Africa on equal terms, but in the end, the opponent won with a difference of 1 run. Ghani scored 128 runs in six matches.
Ghani made his debut in the Asian Cricket Council Premier League in 2014. On May 1, as part of the Afghanistan national team, he played against the Hong Kong national team. Afghanistan defeated the opponent with a difference of 6 wickets. Then the national team met with one of its main rivals — the UAE team. Despite the expectations of a hard struggle, everything turned out differently. The Afghans quickly seized the advantage and defeated the Arabs. Then the Afghan national team met with Malaysia. The match turned out to be very persistent. The Malaysians sensationally won. It was their only success in the tournament. Then the Afghans, in a stubborn struggle, won against Oman and defeated Nepal. These results allowed the Afghan national team to become the best in the tournament. Usman Ghani scored the most runs at the Asian Cricket Council Premier League in 2014. Among others, he beat the leader of the team in this competition — Noor Ali Zadran.
In the 2014 season, Usman Ghani went on the Zimbabwe Tour and played a series of four full-time matches in the ODI format. The first two matches remained for the Zimbabwe national team. At the same time, there was an acute struggle in them. In the second meeting, Usman Ghani tried especially hard. He scored 118 points out of 143 possible, which is a very decent indicator. Ghani was the first representative of Afghanistan to show such a result. Unfortunately for his team, the opponent had a more weighty answer in the person of Sikandar Raza, who brought 141 runs to his team. The Afghans won the following matches. It is noteworthy that in the fourth set, their advantage turned out to be colossal (100 runs).
Usman Ghani: adult career
In 2015, Usman Ghani was part of the national team that went to the debut World Cup. Afghanistan’s first attempt to qualify for the World Cup was in 2011, but then it was not enough. In 2015, the national team took 14th place. With a difference of one wicket, the Afghans managed to defeat the Scottish national team. In the remaining matches, the team suffered defeats. It is noteworthy that the Afghan national team managed to compete with England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, but the Asian cricketers had no chance against Bangladesh and Australia.
In 2018, Usman Ghani played for Band-e-amir Region in Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament. His club has won three and lost two matches. However, Usman showed himself on the good side. In 2020, in the Shpageeza Cricket League, he was in the Band-e-Amir Dragons. The team also took third place in the championship. Kabul Eagles and Mis Ainak Knights were above it, but this did not prevent Ghani from gaining the most runs.
