Highlight
On November 27, Afghanistan will face Australia.
ACB pleaded with Australia to hold off on canceling the one-off Test.
Afghanistan is going to be involved in the T20 World Cup as well.
To avoid hurting the country’s national cricket team because of its current political situation, the CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Hamid Shinwari, begged the other cricket boards to not “isolate” the country’s national team.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board asked Australia to leave its men’s squad members out of the punishment the country has apparently delivered on its female players due to the Taliban’s new prohibition on women playing sports. Australian cricket authorities threatened to call off a historic inaugural test between the two countries scheduled for November if women were not allowed to play. In a statement, the Afghan board’s CEO Hamid Shinwari declared, “The ACB is impotent to influence the culture and religious climate of Afghanistan.”
“Do not cut us off, and do not punish us,” he went on.
Following their capture of Kabul, the fundamentalist Islamists reclaimed power.
In the 1990s, when they were in power, women were absolutely forbidden from participating in sports.
The takeover is questioning Afghanistan’s future participation in Test matches because they need to have an active women’s squad to be allowed in by the International Cricket Council.
Speaking to the AFP on Friday, ACB chairman Azizullah Fazli, though, stated that he had communicated with Cricket Australia.
“I’ve requested that they refrain from making cricket a political issue,” he explained. “Discussions are under progress, and I am hoping that, if God wills it, the match will be played in a timely manner.”
Cricket Australia, after the Taliban stated that the Afghanistan men’s cricket team’s schedule would not be disturbed after taking power, recently announced it hopes to play the match on November 27, with both countries hosting.
The Twenty20 World Cup event will take place in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with Afghanistan’s national men’s team playing between October 17 and November 14.
Tim Paine, Australia’s Test captain, believes countries might boycott playing Afghanistan.
The ACB, however, warned that international sanctions would harm the sport in general, including females’ participation.
“Also, women’s cricket has not really been progressing,” he said.
“A 10-year shift has occurred at girl-only schools, where cricket is seen as an important aspect of sports education.”
However, he thinks it’s better to let men play globally because he believes that this will encourage positive interactions with others rather than inspire the Afghans to lock themselves off.
“If the other cricket boards follow CA’s lead, the Afghan cricket community will be shut out of the global game, and the growth of cricket in our nation will be halted,” he continued. “Furthermore, it is quite possible that cricket will be unable to continue in Afghanistan.”
The Thursday resignation came as a surprise to many; in a video message to fans, Rashid Khan said he had felt “no respect” and “not enough respect for a captain” by having to watch from the sidelines as the new leadership of Afghanistan announced their first national squad.
