MUMBAI: With the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket Australia (CA) having agreed to inevitable postponement of the One-Day International (ODI) series between the two nations that was originally planned to take place in India in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2021, the BIG question is: Will there be a team from Afghanistan represented at ICC’s showpiece event?
Before addressing the “elephant in the room”, the joint release issued by CA and ACB bears noting for the record: “The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket Australia (CA) have agreed to postpone the tour given the complexities of travel, quarantine periods and finding a suitable location for the matches given the relocation of the T20 World Cup to the UAE.
“With the World Cup relocated from India to the UAE, the ACB will continue to explore the possibility of hosting a proposed T20I tri-series involving Australia and West Indies.”
The confirmation of the postponement of the ODI series has now cleared the way for the Australia and Afghanistan players to feature in the Indian Premier League (not that it was ever in doubt. Money talks).
And while the total collapse of the Afghanistan government in the face of the Taliban onslaught has rattled the world, the media manager of the country’s national team Hikmat Hassan appears to be living in an alternate reality, telling Indian newswire ANI that there was no doubt (emphasis ours) with regards to participating in the T20 World Cup and even that the ACB is keen to go ahead with a tri-series involving Australia and West Indies to help in preparations for the showpiece event.
Hassan’s assertions notwithstanding, asked by ANI if the board officials had a word with IPL-bound Rashid Khan or Mohammad Nabi as they are not in the country at present, he said: “We are always there to help our players and their families. We will do whatever is possible for them. Things are not affected much in Kabul, we are already back in the office, so there is nothing to worry about.”
Be that as it may, SportzPower reached out to the ICC with specific queries around the collapse of the government in Afghanistan and the unfolding tragedy in the strife-torn nation with the Taliban taking control. First was that the immediate repercussion for the ICC is that Afghanistan would not be represented in the upcoming T20 World Cup in October. And further extending that logic, there are now doubts over Afghanistan’s status as an ICC-recognised cricket team.
The ICC offered SportzPower no formal statement till the time this report was uploaded, but it is fair to assume it would be too early for the cricket’s world governing body to take any immediate call other than continue to monitor the situation.
Coming back to the T20 World Cup, the two groups for the tournament, selected on the basis of team rankings as of March 20, 2021, see defending champions the West Indies pooled along with former champions England, Australia and South Africa in Group 1 of the Super 12s, with two qualifiers from Round 1 joining them.
Group 2 will comprise of former champions India and Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan (unless officially stated otherwise) and the other two qualifiers from Round 1.
Fact: The Taliban takeover has come as a massive setback to the sporting ambitions of the strife-torn nation. And even as the cricket team stares at an unclear future, one can only wish the best for the players and their families.
