After Cricket Australia (CA) withdrew from playing Afghanistan in the ODI series which was scheduled to play in UAE, the International Cricket Council is in no mood to give a reprieve to Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), reports said.
The decision came on the back of Taliban atrocities on women since they came to power last year and the move had invited a backlash from star Afghanistan cricketers like Rashid Khan, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Qais Ahmad, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Izharulhaq Naveed.
Cricket Australia pulled out of the series in response to the Taliban crackdown on women’s “basic human rights". Moreover, the Taliban has also banned women from pursuing higher education recently.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, ICC is planning to take some action against the Afghan cricket board for multiple reasons in its meeting in March. Firstly, ACB has failed to raise a women’s team in the country which is a requisite for a full member.
ICC has also taken note of the reaction of Afghanistani players to Australia’s withdrawal from ODIs series.
“We are concerned by recent developments in Afghanistan and the ICC board will consider the implications of these developments at its next meeting we remain in contact with other global sporting organizations who share our aim of seeing men and women playing sports in Afghanistan.
We want to see men and women safely playing cricket in Afghanistan and have consistently held the view that the best way to achieve this is by supporting our Member, the Afghanistan Cricket Board, in its endeavors to develop the game in the country," the ICC spokesperson told Cricbuzz.
On Friday, former skipper Mohammad Nabi dared Australia to skip the 2023 ODI World Cup clash where the two teams will be against up another.
“It is not right to mix politics with sports. The same regime was there during the World Cup and why did they play us? Because they wanted two points. They wanted a good NRR to progress in the World Cup. What will they do in the World Cup in India? We will see if they will boycott us there? The reason they have given is not right," Nabi told Cricbuzz.
