My ICC award an inspiration for Afghan youth: Omarzai

In Afghanistan's nascent cricket history, Rashid Khan is unarguably the greatest but Azmatullah Omarzai can certainly claim to be the latest after winning the first-ever ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Award for his war-torn country.

This is a feat not even achieved by country's global cricket face Rashid and Omarzai can only hope that his award will be an inspiration for the future generation of cricketers of his country.

"It is a matter of great happiness for me to become the first Afghan player to win the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year award. This will also be an inspiration for our youth of the future generation. I will try to play better in the future. There is still a lot to achieve,' the 24-year-old said on the sidelines of the SA20 in Gqeberha.

He finished the year as Afghanistan's second-highest run scorer (behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz) and second-highest wicket taker (behind A M Ghazanfar), with Afghanistan winning four of their five ODI series in 2024.

He claimed 17 wickets in 14 matches in ODI cricket last year at an average of 20.47 and scored 412 runs at an average of above 50.

"It feels great that I am playing here for the first time and we are in the final. The team has a good combination from the first day itself, everyone is giving their 100 percent on the field and that is why we are winning continuously," he said.

After finishing last in the last two seasons, MI Cape Town has reached the final by winning five matches in a row.

Omarzai stated that compatriot Rashid being his captain in SA20 has boosted his confidence.

"I play with Rashid in the Afghanistan team as well, so it feels great that he is the captain of my team in SA20

as well. He gives a lot of confidence to the players. Seeing the energy with which he plays on the field, we also try to play with the same energy and give our 100 percent on the field,' said the seam bowling all rounder who can bowl in the Powerplay and hit big sixes in the lower order."

He played a key role in the ODI series wins against Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe last year. Congratulating Rashid on breaking the record of West Indies' Dwayne Bravo (631) for most wickets in T20 cricket during the first qualifier against Paarl Royals in SA20, he said that he prays that this record is never broken.  

"It is a matter of great happiness that a player emerges from Afghanistan, who creates a world record. We hope that Rashid takes so many wickets that no one can break his record," he said  SA 20 has been a learning platform from him as he played on different conditions and shared the dressing room with the veterans.

He said the SA20 league has been a great learning experience for him..  

"It has been a very good experience for me and I have tried to learn from the senior players which will be useful for me in the future as well. The atmosphere of the team is very good and we are fully supporting each other and love each other. It feels great that I am a part of this team," said Omarzai.

Describing the performance of the Afghanistan team, which sprung a surprise by reaching  semi-finals by defeating a giant like Australia in the T20 World Cup last year, he said that they always play with the spirit of winning.

"Afghanistan has a very good team and the young players are doing well. Our goal is that we have to go and play and win. Whichever team we play against, we just play to win. We have full faith in our skills and support each other and that is why we have been very successful for the last two years," he said.