With the dream of as soon as once more donning the Afghanistan jersey on the worldwide stage, 17 ladies cricketers from the nation residing in self-imposed exile in Australia have written to the ICC to assist arrange a staff, which was disbanded after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Whereas the Afghanistan males’s staff has set new benchmarks and just lately made it to the T20 World Cup semifinals for the primary time, the ladies gamers, who had been contracted to the Afghanistan Cricket Board earlier than the Taliban takeover, sought refuge in Australia, the place they hope to arrange a refugee staff and play worldwide cricket.
In a letter written to the worldwide governing physique, the ladies cricketers praised the luxurious efficiency of the boys’s staff within the T20 World Cup however rued that they weren’t getting alternatives to flourish.
“We, the previously contracted gamers of the Afghanistan ladies’s staff, are proud and excited by the achievements of Afghanistan on the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup and want to congratulate Rashid Khan and his staff on reaching the semi-finals,” the letter, written on June 29 said.
“A profound unhappiness stays that we, as ladies, can not characterize our nation just like the male cricketers.” The Afghanistan authorities has stringent guidelines for ladies and they aren’t allowed to bask in sports activities actions.
“As former Afghan cricketers now residing overseas, we’re unable to characterize the Afghanistan ladies’s nationwide staff. We’re asking the ICC to help us in organising a refugee staff in Australia,” the letter added.
The gamers have advised that the staff might be administered by way of the East Asian Cricket workplace, which is predicated at Cricket Australia. They, nonetheless, acknowledged that “because of the authorities insurance policies of Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Cricket Board, the ICC can not recognise them as a nationwide staff of Afghanistan”.
“Via this staff, we goal to characterize all Afghan ladies who dream of enjoying cricket however are unable to in Afghanistan.” The gamers have mentioned that their proposed staff could be the one “with out borders” and would draw consideration to the challenges being confronted by ladies gamers in Afghanistan.
“Making a staff of Afghan refugees can provide us an opportunity to play, coach and administer a cricket staff with out borders. The creation of this staff will permit all Afghan ladies who wish to characterize their nation to come back collectively beneath one banner,: the gamers mentioned of their letter.
“Our targets in having a refugee staff is to develop and showcase our expertise, give hope to the ladies remaining in Afghanistan, and to attract consideration to the challenges ladies of Afghanistan face.”
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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