Cricket was barely known in Afghanistan until the early 2000s.
Acceptance:
An almost crowded Friday saw Afghanistan’s top cricketers play in a test match, with Taliban and Afghan flags waving side by side in what sports officials called a demonstration of national unity.
It was the first party since the Taliban came to power on August 15, leaving organizers of sporting and cultural events wondering what is now acceptable under hardline Islamist rule.
The two sides, called Peace Defenders and Heroes of Peace, introduced many members of the Afghan national team, which is currently preparing for the Twenty20 World Cup to be played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October.
“It’s great to be here and watch cricket,” Hamza, a Taliban, told AFP at Kabul Stadium with an American M-16 rifle thrown over his shoulder.
He was at the head of a Taliban contingent guarding the crowd; some watched the match more closely than the spectators.
“I’m a player myself,” Hamza said. “A multipurpose.”
The return of the Taliban has provoked widespread fear in Afghanistan and the international community, reclaiming memories of its first stage in power from 1996 to 2001, when they imposed a harsh version of Islamic law.
That regime banned most entertainment, including many sports, and stadiums were doubled as public performance venues.
The sports that the Taliban allowed were strictly controlled and were only for men to play or watch.
Sure, there were no women in the crowd of about 4,000 people on Friday, but there was a lot of excitement as the teams played a game of Twenty20, the shortest version of the game, scheduled to end in time for the prayers of the Friday, the week.
Cricket was hardly known in Afghanistan until the early 2000s, and its explosive rise in popularity is related to the conflict: the sport was picked up in Pakistan by Afghan refugees who planted it in their country. of origin.
The national team has enjoyed a meteoric rise on the international scene since then, earning the coveted test status in 2017 and now ranking among the top ten teams in the world in the one-day and Twenty20 formats.
In the last twenty years, it has emerged as a powerful symbol of national unity in a country where civil war and ethnic conflicts lived.
On Friday, fans waved Afghan and Taliban flags side by side, while “Baba cricket,” an old superfan dressed upside down with national colors, was taken to a privileged spot in the stands.
On Friday, admission was free for spectators, although all Taliban guards caressed them as they entered the stadium near Chaman Uzuri, a Pashtun-dominated district of Kabul, which makes up the majority of Taliban fighters.
While many Kabul residents say security has improved in the weeks since the government fell, the Taliban remain on alert following the Islamic State suicide attack on the airport last week that killed more of 100 people, including 13 American troops when they ended a chaotic retreat.
Radiant Hamid Shinwari, CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, told AFP that the display of flags at the match – which the Peacekeepers won by 62 runs – was a positive sign for in the country.
“It’s unity,” he said, adding that talks with Taliban officials marked a bright future for the sport.
However, he would not be attracted to the fate of the women’s team, as several media reports say many members had already fled the country or were in hiding, fearful of their future under the new regime.
“We have a group on WhatsApp and every night we talk about our problems and share plans on what we should do,” a team member told the BBC this week.
“We’re all desperate.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)