Asia Cup 2022: Pakistani artist and his Afghan human canvas share love of cricket

Judged by the last time the sides met in a big match in the UAE, it would be easy to assume Afghanistan’s match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup would be a taut engagement.

Lose, and it would extinguish Afghanistan’s chances of reaching the final of a competition they have done so much to illuminate.

It was similar when they met in Dubai last year at the T20 World Cup. Some Afghan fans found the tension too difficult to bear, rushed the gates, and attempted to gain entry without tickets.

Similarly, at the 2019 50-over World Cup in England, the Afghanistan and Pakistan fixture had also brought with it crowd unrest.

And yet the two groups of supporters have a strong affinity, according to Rahim Sediqi, who is arguably Afghanistan’s most recognisable supporter.

“We are friends, but some people make trouble,” Sediqi said. “Not all of them. And cricket brings smiles to people’s faces.

“Here, there is such a large population of Afghans and they all want to show their support for the Afghan cricket team.

“At Sharjah today, there will be a full crowd, and there will be more Afghans than Pakistanis. Our nation is crazy about cricket, and they all want to support the team.”

As he speaks on the morning of the game, Sediqi has good reason to say nice things about the opposition.

The New Zealand resident has been touring the world for the past decade supporting the Afghan national cricket team.

On each match day he has a different motif daubed on his back, chest and face. Wherever he is in the world, he searches out an artist especially for the job.

And for matches in the UAE, the man tasked with the commission is Pakistani.

Ahead of the match against his homeland, Faisal Mahboob charges Dh500 for a piece of work which takes around