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From the refugee camps of northern Pakistan and the cement pitches of Kabul to the finest stadiums in Johannesburg, Afghanistan's improbable journey to the brink of the Cricket World Cup became the story of the tournament, before it even began.

The Afghan side, which will face Bermuda in Potchefstroom on Thursday, has an air of destiny about it

The Arabic phrase 'Insallah' was on the lips of many of the players at their final training session at Vaal University in Vanderbijlpark yesterday.

Literally translated it means 'God willing'. And after a run of results that has seen them win 20 games and three successive tournaments in the last eight months, they could be forgiven for believing that God, or rather Allah, is willing them to succeed.

"All our families, all the Afghan people - 30 million people back home are praying for us every time we play," said fast bowler Hamid Hassan, the star of the qualifying campaign so far.

"We went through three divisions, winning 20 games, it is impossible to do for any other team.

"Not much experience, not much facilities but we won Division Five, Division Four, Division Three and now we are here. Nobody can believe it but with help from God we can improve and play against the biggest teams in the World Cup."

Hamid, who discovered a passion for cricket growing up in a refugee community in Peshawar, was first selected for the Afghan squad three years ago.

The national team was officially inaugurated in 2000, after the oppressive Taliban legalized cricket, making it an exception to its ban on sports.

The team was admitted to the International Cricket Council in 2001 and the sport has flourished since the fall of the Taliban in the same year.

They played for several seasons in the lower tiers of Pakistan domestic cricket and enjoyed some good results in the Asia Cup.

But it wasn't until last year, buoyed by a new influx of refugees returning to Afghanistan cricket, that they took the world by storm - winning Division Five of the World Cricket League in Jersey, then claiming the Division Four title in Tanzania, before going on to win Division Three in Argentina in January and claim the final spot in this tournament.

Dawlat Ahmadzai, another fast bowler, who has been with the team since the early days, says the strength and interest in cricket in Afghanistan stemmed from refugees, like himself and Hamid, who had spent so much time in Pakistan.

"Since 2000, with the refugees coming back, we have been playing cricket everywhere in Afghanistan.

"The early days were very difficult - we had no coach, no trainer. I never believed we would be here at that time. Now I am so happy because I am doing well for my country"

Sometimes they would play on cement wickets, on other occasions on fields surrounded by abandoned military helicopters - a fact that has become part of the growing folklore of Afghanistan cricket.

"All everybody knows about our country is war," adds Hamid.

"For 32 years it is all about war, but we play for peace. We would like Afghanistan to play against the biggest teams in the world and to be known for cricket."

Hamid and his team-mates face Denmark today and will be up against Bermuda tomorrow.

"We know Bermuda is a good team but in cricket nobody knows what can happen. We have good talent and you can beat any team with good talent, it doesn't matter about money or facilities."

Ahmadzai said the biggest difficulty for the side right now was to control their attacking instincts.

"We like to play aggressive cricket, that is the way we play. But nowadays our coach is trying to get us to play sensibly."

So how will the latest chapter in the Afghan story conclude.

"We are trying our best to qualify for the World Cup and Insallah we will do it," concluded Ahmadzai.

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