Khial Mohammad Lone Afghan Fan The Stands Ind Vs Afg Friends
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Indian ExpressVerified Publisher
On his way to the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on Saturday morning, Khial Mohammad told his cab driver something worth remembering. Afghanistan, he said, stands very little chance against India. But the players will give their best. They always do. Mohammad had come alone. Of the 2,000-odd fans inside the ground, he was the only one waving an Afghanistan flag, standing in the harsh summer sun in the Harbhajan Singh pavilion. By afternoon, four other Afghan fans had trickled in to other parts of the ground. Until
On his way to the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on Saturday morning, Khial Mohammad told his cab driver something worth remembering. Afghanistan, he said, stands very little chance against India. But the players will give their best. They always do.
Mohammad had come alone. Of the 2,000-odd fans inside the ground, he was the only one waving an Afghanistan flag, standing in the harsh summer sun in the Harbhajan Singh pavilion. By afternoon, four other Afghan fans had trickled in to other parts of the ground. Until then, it was just him.
A Kabul native, Mohammad has been studying at a private university near Chandigarh since 2022, when his father sent him to India for his MBA. His younger brother Mujeeb Rehman still plays in the junior circuit in Afghanistan. Cricket runs in the family conversation, if not quite the family profession.
Mohammad played cricket himself through his teenage years before his father sent him to Chandigarh. The game never left him. Over the years he has followed Afghanistan to different venues across India, watching the team grow match by match.
He was there in 2023 when Afghanistan beat England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the World Cup. They finished sixth in the round-robin stage. He had followed the team across venues that tournament. “Even when the team loses, we are there,” he says. He remembers the comeback after the opening loss at Dharamshala. He watched the semi-final run at the 2024 T20 World Cup. He has seen Noor Ahmad and Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar announce themselves in the IPL this season, while Rashid Khan continues to be the constant.
And he became a Virat Kohli fan in 2012, after the 183 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. Afghanistan does not yet have an international stadium, though a 100-acre sports complex is coming up in Kabul. Mohammad has a wish that goes with it. “Every Afghan fan hopes to see Virat Kohli play in Kabul someday,” he says. He plans to meet Kharote and Sharifi after the day’s play.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
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