Exclusive: Afghanistan committed to playing in T20 World Cup, says ACB spokesman

Amid the skyrocketing uncertainties in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the nation, the nation’s cricket board says it’s nonetheless on a monitor to ship the nationwide group to Sri Lanka for subsequent month’s bilateral one-day sequence towards Pakistan.

And the Rashid Khan-led group can even be part of the ICC T20 World Cup in UAE.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board(ACB) has remained defiant that the sport won’t undergo within the aftermath of the Taliban’s ascendency.

Amid the chaotic scenes rising from completely different elements of the nation, the cricket board on Thursday even introduced the introduction of two new franchises within the Shpageeza Cricket League, their premier home T20 match.

“The eighth edition of Shpageeza Cricket League is scheduled to be commenced from September 10th at Kabul Cricket Stadium and will conclude on 25th of the same month,” the cricket board stated on their official website on Thursday.

The cricket board is already planning for the group’s departure from Kabul for his or her one-day sequence towards Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Farid Hotak, the spokesman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, stated they’re ready for the Pakistan sequence.

“Afghanistan vs Pakistan ODI matches are going to happen. ACB is fully prepared, we are waiting for the flights to resume. Within three to four days, we are departing to Sri Lanka,” Hotak instructed on Thursday.

Sounding promising concerning the group’s participation in future occasions, Hotak stated the cricket board would honour their worldwide and home commitments.

“We are committed to participating in the T20 World Cup. We have also planned the 8th edition of Shpageeza Cricket League for next month,” he stated.

Hotak’s assertion would go a great distance in placing the doubts over the destiny of Afghanistan’s cricket group to the mattress.

Of course, the destiny of a cricket group can’t be of grave concern at a time when the world is determined to know if girls and youngsters are going to be protected within the nation after the Taliban returned to Kabul.

But the well being of its cricket group would possibly simply nicely enable us to gauge which approach Afghanistan’s fortunes might flip within the close to future.

After all, their cricket group gave the nation a brand new identification on the worldwide stage.

Rashid Khan, 22, is now probably the most feared leg-spinner in white-ball codecs – an unbelievable achievement for a participant who first realized to bowl on the dustbowls of Peshawar after his household had fled to Pakistan throughout the Afghan War.

Amid the gunshots of a battle, Afghanistan managed to achieve a foothold in cricket and construct a powerful group.

For a group that made their full worldwide debut solely 12 years in the past, Afghanistan went on to take an enormous stride, producing world-class gamers like Rashid, Mujeeb-ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi and even attaining the Test standing.

But their biggest achievement has been their success of getting a direct entry into the Super 12 stage of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup as one of many high eight ranked sides, pushing groups like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh into the preliminary spherical of the match.

Having spent eight years with the Afghan group from 2010 to 2018 as a batting coach, Umesh Patwal says the important thing to Afghanistan’s success in cricket was its high infrastructure in home cricket and the fervour the younger youngsters have for the sport.

“They have built superb infrastructure and their domestic structure is very good. And the passion for the game is quite incredible. That’s why you see so many good young players and that’s why they have become a Test-playing country,” Patwal instructed Khaleej Times over the telephone from Dehradun.

Now even after the Taliban’s return, Patwal believes cricket will proceed to develop.

“I have a very good experience of working with the team. I have been there a few times. I have been told that even the Taliban always loved and supported cricket. I think absolutely they are going to support cricket now,” he stated.

Patwal nonetheless was nervous and even despatched messages to a few Afghan gamers after the Taliban stormed into Kabul.

“I spoke to Samiullah Shinwari and Hazratullah Zazai. Both of them are in Kabul. They are safe and their families are safe as well,” stated Patwal.

So will the sport of cricket be capable of bridging the hole in a rustic grappling with the newest turmoil in its conflict-ridden historical past?

The remainder of the world will await a solution with the identical anxiousness and nervousness batsmen internationally really feel when Rashid Khan makes the ball drift and switch viciously.