New Delhi, India
Afghanistan is in total mayhem ever since the Taliban group took over from the government. Since then, a series of bomb blasts near the Kabul airport led to the killing of several, many have managed to leave the troubled country whereas some are facing oppression.
While the Taliban invasion meant uncertainty for all in terms of their future in the country, as they remain perplexed on how to adapt and live in their homeland, the terror outfit gave green signal for the cricketing activities to continue for the men's national team. At the same time, they snatched away the freedom of the women's team, not allowing them to continue with the sport.
Amid all this, news came that Afghanistan's scheduled one-off Test versus Australia, in Hobart, in November will go ahead as planned. However, the Cricket Australia (CA) have now released a statement, revealing their stance on the one-off Test. It says that they will have to cancel the historic Test if Taliban bans women's cricket in Afghanistan.
"Driving the growth of womenâs cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia," the statement from CA read.
"Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level. If recent media reports that womenâs cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart. We thank the Australian and Tasmanian Governments for their support on this important issue."
An update on the proposed Test match against Afghanistan â¬ï¸ pic.twitter.com/p2q5LOJMlw
â Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) September 9, 2021
As per the International Cricket Council's (ICC) regulations, the nations that are granted Test status are required to field both men's and women's teams. Thus, it is expected that even the ICC will have to step up sooner than later to take a call on Afghanistan's status as a full member if the women's team future remains in jeopardy.