Dehradun; The International Cricket Match played in Raipur Sport College in the State Capital has in many ways been the ‘first of its kind’ creating euphoria amongst cricket fans not only from the valley but from all over, converging cheer their favourite team.
The Afghanistan-Bangladesh T-20 series played in Dehradun worked as a lodestone attracting not just ordinary fans but some special ones as well, like 50 year old ‘Baba e Cricket‘ from Afghanistan who leaving behind memories of his war-ravaged home has come to support and cheer his beloved team.
Armed with an easy smile and a long flowing white beard, Raza Khan is hard to miss. An ardent fan of the Afghanistan Cricket Team he made his way to the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Raipur to witness history.
For the past decade or so Raza has been religiously travelling with the Afghan Cricket team, visiting countries and continents cheering on his cricket team.
Despite limited resources and enormous hardships, alike the Afghan cricket team Raza Khan too has caught the fancy of the media as he sways his country flag with such pride that it warms the cockles of the heart.
Like his counterparts from India, Sudhir Gautam Chaudhary who is the mascot for our national cricket team, and Pakistan’s Chaudhry Abdul Jalil popularly known as ‘Chacha Cricket.’ Afghanistan’s cricket die-hard fan and mascot Raza Khan or ‘Baba e Cricket‘ or ‘Cricket Baba,’ dresses in his handsome traditional dress and head gear, holding his country’s national flag high with pride, egging his cricket team to win.
