Very few such rare and emotional moments are seen in the history of international cricket when a legendary player is playing for the national team and at the same time his son also gets a historic opportunity to wear the international jersey of the senior team. One such amazing and memorable scene was seen in the first match of the men's cricket event of the Asian Games 2026. Hassan Isakhil, the 20-year-old son of Afghanistan cricket team's legendary former captain and star all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, has finally made his much-awaited debut on the international stage. In the inaugural match played against Japan, Hasan was included in Afghanistan's senior playing eleven, with which he created a new history.
The most interesting and attention-grabbing thing about this debut is that 41-year-old Mohammad Nabi is still fully active in international cricket and is far away from retirement. Just a few days ago, on September 17, Nabi had played a T20 international match against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The son's debut while the father is representing the country at the international level is a rare coincidence in the world of sports. However, this big opportunity of debut proved to be a nightmare for young batsman Hasan Isaakhil in terms of individual performance and he completely failed to make any significant impact with the bat in his very first match.
Cricket fans and selectors had high expectations from Hasan Isaakhil, who was included in the team as a top-order specialist batsman. When Hasan, known for his aggressive batting in domestic cricket and Under-19 level, came to the crease, the immense pressure of his legendary father's name and expectations was clearly visible on him. In front of the disciplined line-length of the Japanese bowlers, Hasan could not play his shots openly and was seen continuously struggling to score runs.
Hassan Isaakhil faced 10 balls in his first international innings, but could only add 3 runs. Their struggle was ended by Japanese bowler Reo Sakurano-Thomas when he dismissed Hasan and en route to the pavilion. After getting out very cheaply in his very first international match, now it will be interesting to see whether the team management keeps faith in this young player in the upcoming important matches or chooses the path of change in the playing eleven of the next match.
In this match played between Japan and Afghanistan, Japan won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Afghanistan team, which came to bat first, could score only 129 runs at the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. This score seemed a bit modest for the previous Asian Games silver medalist team. On behalf of the team, opener Mohammad Akram showed the most fight and played a brilliant inning of 34 runs in 29 balls, which included 2 attractive fours and 6 huge sixes. Apart from Akram, no other batsman from Afghanistan could touch the 30-run mark. From Japan, Shoma Sugaya-Slater and Ibrahim Takahashi demonstrated excellent bowling and took 2 important wickets each.
Chasing the target of 130 runs, the Japanese team could not stand against the sharp and tight bowling of the Afghan bowlers. While chasing the target, the entire Japanese team collapsed for just 81 runs in 19.3 overs. For Japan, opener Reo Sakurano-Thomas scored the highest 23 runs with the help of 3 fours, but the rest of the batting order collapsed like a house of cards. No other batsman of the team could cross the 20-run mark and a total of 8 players could not even touch the double figures. In this way, Afghanistan made a winning start to the tournament by winning the match by a huge margin of 48 runs.
The next match of Afghanistan team, which has reached a strong position in Group-A, is scheduled against Nepal on Friday, 25 September 2026. The Nepal team has proven to be extremely competitive in the T20 format in recent years, so Afghanistan cannot take this match lightly at all. By winning this match, the Afghan team will directly secure its place for the next stage i.e. quarter final round.
Now the biggest question before the team management will be regarding young Hasan Isakhil. Will the head coach and captain give him another chance against Nepal to regain his rhythm, or will an experienced face be included in the playing eleven considering the pressure of the knockout. However, despite the failure in the first match, it is clear that Hassan Isaakhil's first step towards carrying forward the legacy of Mohammad Nabi has been taken and the eyes of the world will remain focused on this young Afghan star in the times to come.