The International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to host its first U-19 Women's T20 World Cup later this week, but expressed concerns regarding Afghanistan's ongoing lack of support for women's cricket. The competition was held in South Africa where 16 teams participated, Afghanistan is the only nation that is not represented. It has been a year since the Taliban has taken all the power in Afghanistan, where women's cricket has made absolutely no progress. There is a high chance that it won't show any participation in the future as well. The ICC will soon have a discussion on this topic in its next board meeting in March.
After the Taliban seized the entire country of Afghanistan in 2021, the international governing body formed a working group to evaluate cricket in Afghanistan. Imran Khwaja, the deputy chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is the lead of the group. He met with Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen along with the Afghan cricket and government officials in November last year where the Afghanistan administration pledged to support the rules of the ICC constitution and also to encourage the development of women's cricket.
However, after accepting the rules and norms no such effort has been shown to encourage women's cricket. There are six events for men's cricket across all levels, from junior to senior but not for women. Afghanistan is the only cricketing nation to have the status of Full Member without fulfilling one of its most essential requirements which are having a fully functional women's team. There has not been any financial support for the same.
According to ICC CEO Geoff Allardice, the Taliban leadership has put over an indefinite prohibition on girls’ education which has made the matter worse.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Allardice stated during a virtual press conference that the latest changes about banning girl education have been a matter of concern. The board has been regularly monitoring the developments made after the shift of regime. The lack of progress and improvements will be taken into consideration at the next board meeting in March.
Since the Taliban seized power, a great number of women in Afghanistan fled the nation to secure their future. Women who used to work at the Kabul office of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) are no longer working, several have even left the country.
Asad Ullah, a former ACB director stated that “I don't think there would be any solution currently as women's cricket in Afghanistan has been always a burning problem. Before the Taliban took over the country, we hardly had any women's playing team. There was a small group of girls playing cricket for their pass time in their houses.
They can play if they wish to but it has never been a matter of curiosity and girls were not even allowed to do so. But after the seizing, many women left the country thinking they would never be allowed to play any kind of sport. But where they are playing, Australia or somewhere else? I don't think so. They had the right to fly over to have a better future, but for cricket, they have neither shown any interest nor were encouraged. The ICC needs to be aware of the dynamics in the country and it’s not a thing to be enforced immediately by the government. It requires time as every nation does follow its own set of rules and policies,” expressed Asad.
