Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s former cricketer has also thrown his weight behind the Taliban after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and said the terror outfit has come with a “positive mind” to power.
In a video clipping tweeted by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, Shahid Afridi can be seen telling reporters that the Taliban is “allowing women to work”, and “likes cricket”.
Shahid Afridi: Taliban Came With A Very Positive Mind
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is someone who always loves the limelight and continues to do the same after his international retirement as well. Shahid Afridi made a shocking statement to the media on Monday (August 30), claiming that the Taliban, who have taken over Afghanistan recently, have come with a ‘positive mind’.
“No doubt Taliban have come. But, they have come with a very positive mind. They’re allowing ladies to work. They are allowing them to participate in politics. They are supporting cricket…And I believe the Taliban like cricket a lot,” Afridi told reporters.
The 46-year-old Shahid Afridi’s statement also come days after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed at least 170 people, including 13 US security personnel. The 46-year-old, who will be playing his last match for Pakistan Super League, added, “Taliban loves cricket.” He further encouraged their involvement and said it would help cricket grow.
Shahid Afridi last played international cricket for Pakistan more than five years ago in 2016 but has continued to take part in the PSL ever since its inception well into his forties. Shahid Afridi played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs, and 99 T20Is between 1996 and 2018. He scored 11196 runs across formats and took 541 wickets as well.
He burst onto the international stage with a 37-ball century in October 1996 which was then the fastest hundred in ODI history, a record that remained intact for over 17 years before New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson broke in 2013, taking one less delivery. AB de Villiers then broke the record in 2015, hitting a century in mere 31 deliveries.
Imran Khan Supported The Taliban On Numerous Occasions
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has supported the Taliban on numerous occasions in the past. In July, before the terror outfit forcefully took over the Afghanistan government, Imran Khan said the Taliban are not some “military outfits but normal civilians”, and asked how the country was supposed to hunt them down when it had three million Afghan refugees at the border.
In an interview, Imran Khan stressed that Pakistan hosts three million Aghan refugees of which the majority are Pashtuns, the same ethnic group as the Taliban fighters.
“Now, there are camps of 500,000 people; there are camps of 100,000 people. And Taliban is not some military outfit, they are normal civilians. And if there are some civilians in these camps, how is Pakistan supposed to hunt these people down? How can you call them sanctuaries?” he argued.
Later in August, Imran Khan, who has publically endorsed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, said that his country is reaching out to all “Afghan leaders” and urged other countries to “stay engaged”, to economically support people in the war-ravaged country.
After the hostile takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has re-imposed repressive laws and retrograde policies on Afghan women that defined its 1996-2001 rule when they enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law.