Mediaboss Marketing

Javed Ahmadi and the Afghanistan cricket team arrive in Canberra on Saturday ahead of the cricket World Cup. Photo: Jay Cronan

Javed Ahmadi is Afghanistan's answer to "The Big Show" and Australian fast-bowling great Geoff Lawson thinks he'sone of the 10 players to watch at the cricket World Cup.

Ahmadi was born in a refugee camp in Peshawar, with the Pakistan border town proving to be a rich breeding ground for Afghan talent.

The 23-year-old still has family there, after moving back to Afghanistan as a teenager to pursue his cricketing dream.

He's no stranger to Australia and World Cups, having captained his country in the under-19 edition Down Under in 2012, where he was also one of the leading run-scorers. But it was the under-19 edition three years ago when Ahmadi met Lawson, who coached the side for the duration of the tournament.

Advertisement

He was blown away by the honour of making Lawson's Big 10. "Wow, he's my favourite coach from under-19s. We spent 40 days with him in under-19s, he was our head coach for that time in 2012," Ahmadi said.

"It was only 40 days, but he's a nice guy and a very talented coach. Every time he's talking about positivity. That time I was skipper and he was only talking about playing your natural game, what is your style and to play that way. That's why I like him very much."

Ahmadi debuted for the senior side as an 18-year-old and has played 19 one-day internationals.

Afghanistan coach Andy Moles sees him as a key figure in the side, not just as a hard-hitting opening batsman, but also for his athletic fielding and his handy off-spinners. That's why he likened him to Maxwell, who's nickname is the Big Show, whose brutal batting and handy tweakers are making him a key figure in the Australian line-up.

Read the original:
Javed Ahmadi a key player in Afghanistan's cricket World Cup campaign