Afghanistan cricket workforce will take the sphere on Monday within the T20 World Cup, its first outing because the Taliban takeover of the nation.
Afghanistan will tackle Scotland of their opening recreation of cricket’s T20 World Cup 2021, the workforce’s first outing because the Taliban takeover of the nation.
Because the workforce ready for the match, captain Mohammad Nabi performed a straight bat on Sunday to the inevitable questions on politics.
“Everybody is aware of that again residence in Afghanistan there’s rather a lot occurring and all the things from the previous couple of months,” he acknowledged within the pre-match press convention forward of the sport in Sharjah on Monday.
“However, as a cricket standpoint, all people is prepared for this World Cup and we ready nicely. The followers are actually ready as a result of the one happiness in Afghanistan is cricket.
“For those who’re keen to do nicely within the match and we win the video games, the followers are actually blissful and there might be lots of smiles on faces.”
After the Taliban retook management of Afghanistan in August, the cricket workforce briefly confronted the potential of being banned from the match if the ladies’s workforce was dismantled.
Then, star spinner Rashid Khan stepped down as captain earlier than visa points positioned one more hurdle within the workforce’s path.
All-rounder Nabi was handed the captain’s arm band and the remainder of the workforce skilled in Qatar previous to their arrival within the United Arab Emirates.
“There was somewhat concern once we arrived in Dubai,” Nabi mentioned, acknowledging that the final 10 days weren’t “best”.
Ladies in sport
Sport in Afghanistan confronted an unsure future following the Taliban’s takeover of the nation in August.
A whole lot of athletes, particularly feminine athletes, went into hiding or had been evacuated from the nation for concern of reprisals or being shunned by the brand new Taliban authorities.
These outdoors the nation feared the worst, having seen an entire ban on ladies’s sport when the armed group managed Afghanistan from 1996 till the United States-led invasion in 2001.
A high-ranking Taliban official was lately quoted as saying that ladies might be banned from sport within the nation (though officers later claimed the assertion was not translated precisely from Pashto).
Afghanistan Cricket Board’s lately appointed Chairman Azizullah Fazli informed Al Jazeera that there isn’t a ban on ladies’s sport as of but.
“We now have spoken to the highest Taliban authorities officers and their stance is that there’s formally no ban on ladies’s sport, particularly ladies’s cricket. They haven’t any downside with ladies participating in sport,” he mentioned whereas in Qatar’s capital Doha earlier this month.
“We’ve not been requested to cease ladies from taking part in cricket. We’ve had a ladies’s workforce for 18 years. However what we want to bear in mind is our faith and tradition. If ladies adhere to that [attire] there isn’t a downside in them participating in sporting actions.
“Islam doesn’t enable ladies to put on shorts like the opposite groups do whereas taking part in soccer particularly. That’s one thing we want to bear in mind.
“A Taliban official additionally lately mentioned sport and politics might be saved separate and those that perceive the sport and are technically well-versed might be appointed into related positions. The federal government has informed us it is going to help us in any approach wanted.”
Afghanistan’s success in T20 is constructed on their big-hitting batting and the spin bowling of their ‘Huge Three’, Khan, Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In all, eight of their 15-man World Cup squad have expertise taking part in skilled T20 cricket in different nations.
“I believe it’s for these cricketers taking part in cricket all around the world, particularly 5, six, seven gamers are taking part in totally different franchise cricket from final six months,” mentioned Nabi, who performed within the lately accomplished Indian Premier League season within the UAE.
“We’re taking part in lots of cricket in UAE and we all know the situations,” he mentioned. “Everybody again house is pondering that Afghanistan have the most effective workforce in these situations. And our workforce is assured,” he mentioned, warning that “we already focused a lot of the groups in our group.”
Further reporting by Faras Ghani