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

By MagnetGuy

**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