Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) CEO Hamid Shinwari on Friday (August 20) said the players were feeling “spirited” after resuming training in Kabul this week for the ODI series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka just a few days after the Taliban seized control of the country.
Afghanistan has been facing tough times since the last week after the Taliban took over the whole nation under their control, but Shinwari has insisted that cricket hasn’t been halted by any means in the country despite the crisis going inside the country.
As the Afghanistan team has once again started preparations for the three-match ODI series against Pakistan to be played in Hambantota next month, ACB wants to keep moving forward the game’s development in the country having worked very hard to put their name on the world cricket map.
Shinwari told AFP: “The atmosphere in the camp was very spirited. We will send the team to Sri Lanka once the flight operations are resumed and for that, we are in contact with authorities.”
He further added, “Cricket was not an issue during the Taliban regime before and it will not be an issue now. I don't remember any incident caused by the Taliban over cricket.”
However, Women were completely banned from taking part in the game when the Taliban governed Afghanistan last time and Shinwari refused to comment on the status of women's cricket at the moment but said they will participate in every scheduled assignment, including T20 World Cup 2021.
He signed off by saying, “We will be playing a series vs Pakistan, and we are also good to go for the T20 World Cup. With BCCI and other boards, we have a really good relationship. ICC is also in touch with us. They are keeping a close track. As of now, there is no problem with cricket.”
(With AFP Inputs)
