Naveen Ul Haq, Afghanistan fast bowler is just one of the many cricketers in the country staring into the uncertainty of the game after their national fell to the hardline Islamist faction Taliban after 20 years of growth and progress.

After the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, The Taliban systematically took over the country which it ruled with an iron fist from the 1980s to 2000, once more and will form a government as well, renaming the country to Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Despite assurance from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) that the Taliban won't interfere in matters related to cricket in the country, cricketers are not sure about their future. Ever since the takeover, chaos has engulfed the country as people have been trying to flee in huge numbers.  

Afghanistan pacer Naveen-Ul-Haq spoke about the condition of his fellow cricketers back in the country and said there is fear in their minds. He said that cricket brings joy and happiness to the Afghan people and is a uniting factor for them, but now under the Taliban, fear is there.

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“The fear is there in their eyes, in their voices, even in their messages. The Taliban have said (they) won’t be troubling any sportsman, but nobody knows... If you find positive news, if you see people happy together, it’s only cricket... that brings it to the country. It’s that important to Afghanistan. It’s more than a game for Afghanistan’s people," Haq said in a BBC radio interview.

Haq is in the Caribbean for the CPL 2021 where he will be playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors and has said that the situation back home has taken a toll on his game and has made it difficult for him to completely focus only on cricket.

“You forget about it for a minute or two to focus on cricket but it jumps into your mind again. I can’t say that I will be fully focused on playing only cricket because you can’t when you see your country like that," Haq said.

Afghanistan's upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan will be played in Sri Lanka owing to security reasons.

(timesnownews inputs)