Virat Kohli hails Afghanistan's "passion" for the game in a heartwarming message

Afghanistan's journey began in its roots, however, not on its soil but in the refugee camps in Pakistan. Cricket, for them, was an escape from the endless difficulties that life had bestowed on them on a regular basis, and none of them ever gave a thought about playing the sport at a professional level. But, two years after ACB received the recognition from the ICC in 1997, Pakistan invited them to play in the second tier league of their domestic cricket. Since then, their rise from relative obscurity to making ripples in the international circuit has been one of the greatest cricketing fairytales in recent times.

Another chapter was added to their success story as the ACB finalised a domestic T20 tournament and even managed to get the consent of some foreign players to participate in the league. That seems to have excited Kohli as the Indian skipper shared his warm greetings with the team.

“I want to congratulate you for your T20 tournament and also wish you all the very best for the future and the journey you’ve had in your cricket so far,” said Kohli in a video shared by ACB.

“It’s been amazing to watch and I’ve been always following to see what you guys have been doing. I can see the passion in you especially when the cricketers play so I think the same kind of passion is shared by the people back home as well. Always remain true to yourself and success will come to you surely. Whatever you do, do it with full passion and work really hard to reach towards your goal,” he said in his wonderful message to the cricketers.