No plans to ban cricket in Afghanistan: Taliban

Zabihullah Mujahid, the key spokesman of Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, on Thursday rubbished speculations that the country’s rulers plan to gradually ban men’s cricket in Afghanistan.

“This news is baseless and there is no such ban on cricket in Afghanistan,” Zabihullah Mujahid told Nukta from Afghanistan.

Media reports suggest that Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has announced a gradual ban on men’s cricket after the Taliban administration banned women cricket in Afghanistan back in 2021.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks during a news conference in Kabul on August 17, 2021. Reuters

Afghanistan is the only ICC member nation which does not feature in women’s cricket following the return of Taliban rule in the country.

In a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National, Melbourne-based Afghan journalist Shadi Khan stressed that anything can be expected from the Taliban regime.

“You can expect everything and anything from the militants,” Shadi commented.

“Honestly speaking the craze and love for cricket in Afghanistan is too big for the militants to handle and nevertheless as I said they can do anything and they can do everything. The gossip and speculations about factions being opposed to it (cricket) is absolutely correct. Broadly the Taliban can be divided into two groups. One is more powerful in the east and of the country and the other one is very much centered in the south. The eastern bloc of the militants is very much supportive of cricket while the southern block, which is more powerful and the supreme Taliban come from that bloc, seems to be not very keen on cricket so and I suppose there is high probability of that faction to oppose cricket but the other faction will be trying to defend it,” he said.

“Cricket can take a wrong turn if the superior faction gets hold of the situation. It's a power struggle. The craze for cricket is immense and youth can be seen playing cricket on mountains, in the snow, valley and the desert and everywhere,” he said.

“It's more about struggle and more about the militants’ mentality. It's the only thing that keeps people together. As one group is backing it strongly and it might not be named very soon. They have realised that it's a soft power to keep the population under control but then again militants are like absolutely different creatures. They decide to do something they hardly care for implications,” the journalist said.

A player from Afghanistan's women cricket team in action. Women's cricket was banned in the country in 2021 by Taliban.Afghanistan Cricket Board

In 2021, Taliban banned female sports in the country and the closure of girls’ school and universities are the other harsh steps which have already been taken. Kabul also disowned Afghanistan’s female Olympians, who featured in the Paris Olympics last month.

A ban on cricket would certainly ruin the enormous progress made by Afghanistan’s men’s team in recent times.

Afghanistan cricket is on the rise

Last night Afghanistan engineered their maiden ODI victory against South Africa in Sharjah.

It wasn’t the first time that the Afghans have floored superior opponents.

They have in fact build a reputation of being giant-killers, having conquered the world’s best teams in white-ball cricket including England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia. And on Wednesday night they added yet another major scalp to the list by defeating South Africa as well.

Last summer in the T20 World Cup in the US and the West Indies Afghanistan marched into the semi-finals for the first time in the event’s history. However, they were beaten by South Africa in the pre-final by nine wickets to end their impressive journey during which they defeated New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh.

Most of the leading Afghan cricketers learned cricket while settled in Pakistan as refugees. Several Afghan cricketers still own properties in Peshawar.

Afghanistan's captain Mohammad Nabi plays a shot during the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 29. AFP

Due to lack of infrastructure and security issues in the country, Afghanistan hosts foreign nations in the UAE or India.

Both UAE and India have been backing Afghanistan cricket. During the last few years Afghan cricketers have earned huge money in league cricket, especially, in the India Premier League (IPL). Rashid Khan is undisputedly one of the best leg-spinners Mohammad Nabi is counted among leading all-rounders in international cricket.

In a nutshell, Afghanistan cricket has made huge strides. And a ban on men’s cricket will be a killer blow for the country’s most popular sport.