- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup appearance will go ahead as planned with the Taliban’s support, says a local cricket board official.
The fate of the women’s cricket program, however, remains unclear.
Despite the turmoil caused by the stunning fall of the Kabul government on Sunday, the board has confirmed a one-day series against Pakistan will go ahead in Sri Lanka next month and said it was expanding the “Shpageeza” Twenty20 league competition.
“The Taliban don’t have any issue or problem with cricket, and they have told us that we can continue our work as planned,” said Afghanistan Cricket Board head of media operations Hikmat Hassan, adding the team was ready for three one-day matches against Pakistan next month.
“We have completed our two training camps in Kabul and we have sponsors, a production team and even the kit ready.”
Hassan also said the team should be able to play in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October-November.
“We are confident we will be able to take part and will be preparing for it over the coming weeks. I don’t think there will be a problem,” Hassan said.
During their previous spell in power, the hardline Islamist movement banned most public entertainments but they have never had a particular problem with cricket, a sport many Afghans learned in refugee camps in Pakistan during the 1980s and 1990s.
Since then, the game has exploded in popularity in Afghanistan.
Players such as Adelaide Strikers spin bowler Rashid Khan and big-hitting Melbourne Renegades batsman Mohammad Nabi have become global stars of the game, lighting up Twenty20 internationals and other showpiece competitions like the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Afghanistan’s own domestic version of the IPL, the “Shpageeza Cricket League” (SCL), a competition named after the Pashto language word for a six, added two more franchises on Thursday and will be played between September 10-25, the board said.
“Given the current problems in Afghanistan, it is an opportunity to bring the country together, bring some joy to the people and put on a remarkable spectacle,” Hassan said.
He said the board hoped stars like Khan, one of the world’s top rated Twenty20 bowlers, would come home to play in the competition, just ahead of the World Cup.
One area which remains uncertain is the future of the women’s cricket programs run by the ACB, which currently has 25 contracted female cricketers and several programs for girls.
The Taliban have said they will respect women’s rights under Islamic law but they have not given any clear indication of how they will treat women’s sports.
In their previous spell in power, they stopped most women and girls from working or going to school and made them wear all-covering burqas to go out, and then only when accompanied by a male relative.
© AAP
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.