Historic Australia-Afghanistan Test in jeopardy after Taliban takeover

Dark clouds are looming over the historic Test match between Australia and Afghanistan scheduled to be staged in Hobart in November. Taliban has conquered Afghanistan and many are concerned about the fate of the national cricket team. In the latest turn of events, Cricket Australia (CA) has decided not to approach the sports figureheads about the status of the Test. Taliban had earlier banned cricket when it was in power as it obstructs the players from religious players.

‘Our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan, our friends at the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the Afghanistan team during these challenging times,’ a CA spokesperson said.

Earlier, leg spinner Rashid Khan took to Twitter, asking the world leaders to help Afghanistan escape this bloodshed.

‘Dear world leaders,’ Khan, regarded by many as the best T20 bowler on the planet, wrote to his legions of social media followers.

‘My country is in chaos, thousands of innocent people, including children and women, get martyred every day, houses and properties being destructed.

‘Don’t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans and destroying Afghanistan. We want peace.’

Meanwhile, the current crisis put the participation of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi in doubt for the second leg of IPL. However, their IPL franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad has cleared the air about the participation of the duo. According to SRH CEO K. Shanmugam, both players will be available for the remaining games in UAE.
Also, for now, Afghanistan is likely to play the T20 World Cup, as per their media manager. The team play their first game on October 25 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium against the top qualifying team from Group B.