Former Pakistan umpire Mahboob Shah left for Afghanistan on Thursday to help train match officials in the hopes that the war-torn nation can one day compete with cricket's top international teams.

Shah, who supervised the 1987 World Cup final and whose illustrious career included 20 Tests and 32 one-day internationals, said Afghanistan has strong cricketing potential.

‘I see great potential in Afghanistan both players-wise and [for] officials,’ Shah told AFP.  

‘Afghanistan has shown great progress on the cricket field and their participation in the 2015 World Cup is ample proof of their progress.’

Afghanistan qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2015 and won one of their six matches -- against Scotland -- at the February-March event.

Shah will supervise the training of Afghan umpires as part of a course by the Asian Cricket Council.

‘The first course of Level I will be held in Mazar-i-Sharif on April 11 followed by the second in Kabul and all the successful umpires will graduate to Level II from where they will be able to officiate in Asian level events,’ he said.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced long-term plans to improve the infrastructure of the game in the country.