Dawlat Ahmadzai identifies regional HPC centres as key to Afghanistan's cricket development

Afghanistan's HPC Overhaul: Decentralisation & Data-Driven Selection

Dawlat Ahmadzai, the new Manager of Afghanistan's High Performance Centre (HPC), is laying out a serious rebuild plan—and it's the kind of structural thinking this game needs more of. The ex-allrounder (2009–2010 ODI/T20I caps) sees the Kabul-based HPC not as a standalone training hub, but as the engine of a unified national development pathway.

The core thesis: decentralise or die.

Right now, everything's stacked in Kabul. Ahmadzai's calling that a bottleneck. His fix? Roll out Regional HPCs (RHPCs) across the country—pushing coaching, S&C, sports science, medical support and performance analysis out to where the actual talent lives. Talent's abundant in Afghanistan; the plumbing to reach it is just broken. He wants a bigger, deeper, sustainable pool—not a single choke point.

Second move: inject data into selection.

Here's where it gets interesting for anyone who values process over hype. Ahmadzai wants the HPC to feed written performance reports directly into the selection panel—a clear "ready / needs more / stay at HPC or RHPC" verdict on each player. Integrate the HPC with selection, national team and domestic cricket as one system, not silos. That's a genuinely smart play if executed.

The 3-to-5 yr roadmap:

- Fix the continuity gap—players shouldn't restart development every time they jump from U19 → domestic → Afghanistan A → national side.

- Build junior domestic competitions for real competitive reps before pro level.

- Establish RHPCs with proper facilities and specialist support.

- Upskill coaches and support staff, sharpen injury prevention/rehab.

- Cultivate player ownership—systems provide, but players own their results.

Bottom line: This isn't just a facilities upgrade; it's an attempt to build a machine that reliably produces international-grade cricketers instead of hoping talent manifests. If the execution matches the vision, Afghanistan's depth problem gets solved properly. The talent's there—the system's the missing variable.

Source: Crictracker