Afghanistan Cricket Board committed to promoting women's cricket, hopeful of Hobart Test going ahead

By Team Newsable | First Published Sep 15, 2021, 2:05 PM IST

While the Taliban is seemingly against women's cricket, ACB is committed to promoting the same. Meanwhile, ACB also remains hopeful of the Australia Test in Hobart going ahead.

Afghanistan Cricket Board was dealt with a setback when the Taliban announced that it was not in favour of women playing cricket. According to a Taliban representative, who told SBS, women playing the sport leads to improper dress codes that violate Islamic culture.

Meanwhile, ACB was dealt with a further setback when Cricket Australia retaliated and said it might not host the Afghan men's team for the scheduled Test match in Hobart in November if Afghanistan failed to promote women's cricket. CA wants every country to give equal importance to women's cricket.

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However, ACB has clarified its stance, stating that it is always open to promoting women's cricket. As per chairman Azizullah Fazli, CA's statement resulted from a misunderstanding, and ACB was working with the former, reports Reuters.

At the same time, the uncertainty regarding the Hobart Test is also being resolved. While a CA official has confirmed regular talks with ACB, it has also stated that CA's stance on its statement from last week has not changed.

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Meanwhile, Fazli also declared that it was awaiting further instructions from the government. He added that while it is currently focussing on its priority programmes, it would continue to support women's cricket.

The International Cricket Council is expected to meet and discuss the topic in November. Also, Australian Test skipper Tim Paine feels that other nations could opt out against playing Afghanistan in the upcoming ICC World T20, starting next month in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

However, Fazli cleared the air, asserting that Afghanistan's WT20 participation is under no threat. The side is expected to begin its preparation camp for the tournament soon, while he maintained that Afghanistan's international relationships with other nations remain well.

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