Ex-Afghanistan Cricketer Abdullah Mazari Accompanies Taliban To Afghanistan Cricket Board Headquarters

Aug 21, 2021 at 3:37 PM

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Ex-Afghanistan Cricketer Abdullah Mazari Accompanies Taliban To Afghanistan Cricket Board Headquarters

Abdullah Mazari, former Afghanistan cricketer accompanied Taliban fighters to the Afghanistan Cricket Board headquarters in Kabul. Abdullah Mazari played two ODIs for Afghanistan in 2010. Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) president Hamid Shinwari has maintained that there is no threat to the game even though the Taliban has taken over the capital city of Kabul.

However, uncertainty is looming large around the future of Afghanistan cricket and its players. In a picture doing rounds on social media, it can be seen that the Taliban has entered ACB headquarters in Kabul. Interestingly, the Taliban fighters were accompanied by former Afghanistan cricketer Abdullah Mazari.

 Taliban enter Afghanistan Cricket Board headquarters in company of ex-cricketer Abdullah Mazari (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
Taliban enter Afghanistan Cricket Board headquarters in company of ex-cricketer Abdullah Mazari (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Abdullah Mazari Accompanies Taliban To Afghanistan Cricket Board Headquarters

Hamid Shinwari on Monday said that the sport will not suffer in the war-ravaged country as the Taliban loves and supports cricket. He also said that Afghan cricketers and their families are safe.

“Taliban loves cricket. They have supported us since the beginning. They did not interfere in our activities. I don’t see any interference and expect support so that our cricket can move forward.”

“We have got an active chairman, I remain CEO until further notice. It can be said that cricket flourished during the Taliban era. It is also a fact that many of our players practiced in Peshawar and they made the sport mainstream in Afghanistan,” Shinwari was quoted as saying by PTI.

Abdullah Mazari, Afghanistan cricket team
Abdullah Mazari. [photo: Twitter]
Afghanistan has been in turmoil since the Taliban’s resurgence and eventual take over of Kabul which happened on August 15. Thousands have crowded Kabul airport in hopes of being airlifted from the country while women across the nation have expressed fear of the Taliban considering how they brutally suppressed women’s rights in their previous reign.

Abdullah Mazari is an Afghan cricket player. A left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he has played for the Afghanistan national cricket team in 2 ODIs scoring 3 runs and picking 2 scalps. In August 2021, he accompanied the Taliban fighters to reach the headquarters of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Hamid Shinwari: Afghanistan Will Play  3 ODIs Against Pakistan In Sri Lanka

Hamid Shinwari, head of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, said that the team will be playing a series against Pakistan, scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in two weeks, and are also good to go for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Hamid Shinwari
ACB president Hamid Shinwari. Credits: Twitter

Sri Lanka’s cricket board earlier this week said it was still hoping to host Afghanistan and Pakistan for the three matches in an empty stadium at Hambantota. The one-day international series starts on September 3. It was shifted to Sri Lanka after stadiums in the United Arab Emirates – where Afghanistan plays their home matches – were instead preparing to host the Indian Premier League.

Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, and Mujeeb-ur Rahman are some of the Afghanistan star players who are regular features in IPL teams. Rashid Khan is one of the most sought-after T20 freelancers in world cricket currently. Both Mohammed Nabi and Rashid have urged the world leaders to intervene as Afghanistan faces its worst socio-political crisis in the last two decades.

Cricket was registered with the Afghanistan sports committee during the time when the Taliban was ruling Afghanistan (from 1996 to 2001). With the Taliban being there, things will be better from the Afghanistan Cricket Board leadership point of view.

For the last two years, the chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (Farhan Yousufzai) was running the ACB from London. He was not coming to the office and appointed people with poor cricket experience in administration. For the last two to three years, there was no proper domestic cricket in Afghanistan. The domestic cricket structure was in shambles. Cricket will only go up in Afghanistan now according to former Afghanistan cricketer Khaliqdad Noori.

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