Taliban took over most of Afghanistan in the initial few days of the month and a few concerns were raised on the sport of cricket. Ace cricketers Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman too, had shown concern regarding the sport. But what most of the cricket community doesn’t know is that the Taliban, love the sport of cricket! In fact, the beginning of Afghani Cricket was under their rule itself. So, what is the Taliban’s take on this? Here’s a look: –
Taliban capturing the Afghanistan Cricket Board Headquarters in Kabul: –
While conquering the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, the Taliban also reached the ACB headquarters. They took control over the headquarters and were accompanied by former cricketer Abdullah Mazari. Abdullah Mazari played 2 ODIs for the Afghan national team in the year 2010. The ODIs were against Kenya and Abdullah’s performance was pretty average as per stats. As, the Taliban entered the ACB office, ACB president, Hamid Shinwari had assured that there is no threat to the sport of cricket in the Taliban rule.
This is what Shinwari had said to the PTI, “Taliban loves cricket. They have supported us since the beginning. They did not interfere in our activities. I don’t see any interference and expect support so that our cricket can move forward. We have got an active chairman; I remain CEO until further notice. It can be said that cricket flourished during the Taliban era. It is also a fact that many of our players practiced in Peshawar and they made the sport mainstream in Afghanistan”.
Taliban spokesperson assuring no interference in cricketing activities: –
The Taliban organized a meeting for a few cricket team members and a few representatives from the Taliban. The gist of the meeting was that the Taliban ensured no interference in cricketing activities. The meeting was attended by senior players such as Hasmatullah Shahidi and former selection board members Asadullah and Noor Ali Zadran. The representative from the Taliban was Anas Haqqani, and Haqqani promised, no interference in the sport. The members from the cricketing background thanked Haqqani from the bottom of their hearts.
Azizullah Fazli returns as ACB chief: –
Azizullah Fazli a former ACB chief has been reappointed to the position in the rule of the Taliban.
Afghanistan’s cricket schedule: –
Most of the Afghanistan team members are involved in various leagues all over the world! But the T20 World Cup in October and November is the one that awaits them the most. From September 1 to September 5 Afghanistan and Pakistan are set to play 3 ODIs in Sri Lanka. This series is also expected to move forward as planned.
