Australia withdraws from playing ODI series in Afghanistan owing to Taliban restrictions

Australia withdraws from playing ODI series in Afghanistan owing to Taliban restrictions: Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday decided to call off the three-match One Day International (ODI) series against Afghanistan owing to the multiple layers of restrictions imposed by the Taliban and the concerning situation in the country. The white-ball series, which was supposed to be held in United Arab Emirates (UAE) won’t go as per the plans, confirmed the Australian cricket board.

In the statement released by Cricket Australia (CA), it explained the rationale behind the move as the Taliban continues to exercise restrictions on women and girls seeking education and employment.

Notably, Afghanistan vs Australia three-match ODI series was scheduled to begin in March after the Australia tour of India 2023.

“CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country,” the statement said.

Taliban took control of Afghanistan back in September 2021 after throwing away the ruling government in the country. Since then, it has imposed several restrictions on women and their participation in sports. As of now, Afghanistan is the only country that has a test-playing status but doesn’t have an active cricket team for women.

Importantly, in November 2022, it was conveyed to the ICC by the Afghanistan Working Group (AWG) that the ruling government in Afghanistan (Taliban) has given its full support to comply with the constitution of the International Cricket Council (ICC), including the participation of women’s in cricket.

“The meeting was positive and respectful, and the [Afghanistan] government representative was clear in his support for the ICC constitution including in principle for women’s cricket in Afghanistan,” Imran Khwaja, the AWG chair had said.

“There are obviously challenges for it to resume but we will continue to work with the ACB to take this forward. The Working Group will closely monitor the commitment undertaken by the Afghanistan government and will continue to report back to the ICC Board.”

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