Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan, lots of questions have been raised regarding the fate of the country and sports. Will their cricket team continue to play or will they be ready to participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup?
Although the Afghanistan cricket team’s media manager Hikmat Hassan assured that there is no doubt with regards to participating in the T20 World Cup and the board is also keen to go ahead with a tri-series involving Australia and West Indies to help in preparations for the showpiece event. But on the other hand, like his fellow countrymen, Rashid Khan is disappointed and worried for his family over what is unfolding in Afghanistan.
On 15 August, his one-word tweet was enough to get both Indians and Pakistanis to compete over which cricket team the all-rounder should be a part of—all speculations. Khan and fellow Afghan Mohammad Nabi are currently playing league cricket for Trent Rockets in the UK.
The day after Taliban took control of the Afghan capital Kabul, the country’s cricket board said its team’s assignments would be honoured as there has been no interference from any quarters. Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive officer Hamid Shinwari said players and officials were safe and ACB is planning to have its third camp before the team flies to Sri Lanka next week.
Cricket will not be a casualty in the wake of drastic political change in Afghanistan, assured country’s cricket board CEO Hamid Shinwari, saying the Taliban “love” and “support” the game. “Taliban loves cricket. They have supported us since the beginning. They did not interfere in our activities,” said Shinwari.
The BCCI is also keeping an eye on the developments and is hoping to see participation of Afghan players in the India Premier League. “It is too early to comment but we are keeping a watch. For us, nothing changes and we expect Rashid a watch. For us, nothing changes and we expect Rashid and other Afghan players would be part of IPL,” a BCCI source told PTI.
Shinwari added that he hopes major cricketing powers including BCCI play with them more often, providing a big push to to their finances and over the health of the game in the country. “We want to establish regular bilateral cricket ties with all cricketing giants including BCCI which has always been there for us,” he added.
In a country where girls have been targeted for attending the school and their participation in any kind of outdoor sporting activity considered as a social stigma, the return of violent extremism will pose unimaginable challenges. While the Afghan cricket board and some former players insist that Taliban loves cricket and will not hamper cricketing activities or harm cricketers or their families, there is absolutely no guarantee on how things will shape up in the coming weeks.