Jalalabad (Afghanistan): During a lull in Afghanistan’s never-ending war, before the fighting season resumes once again in the spring, Taliban fighters recall laying down their Kalashnikovs and, for a brief moment, enjoying a game of cricket.
The sport is the only one most of the fighters enjoy, commanders say, with matches attracting hundreds of spectators from Taliban-controlled villages when there is no fighting. They are also fans of the increasingly successful national team.
“I love cricket,” said Mullah Badruddin, a Taliban commander in Khogyani district of Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, where a tournament organised by the militants at the start of last winter drew large crowds.
“When Afghanistan play against another team, we listen to the radio with great interest and we also check for scores in social media and follow those in Facebook who give live updates,” he told this agency over telephone.
The game was adopted by Afghans in the refugee camps of cricket-loving Pakistan, where more than three million fled a Soviet invasion and civil war in the 1980s and 1990s, and has since made huge strides in the country, particularly among ethnic Pashtuns in the eastern border provinces.
Taj Malook Khan, who helped set up the Afghan Cricket Club in Kacha Gari refugee camp outside the Pakistani city of Peshawar in the 1980s, and a small group of players used to cross into Afghanistan during the 1990s Taliban era to play and promote cricket.
The Taliban had banned games such as cricket and football in the early years of their austere rule because they believed they kept men away from prayers, according to former national cricketer Hasti Gul, but later became more tolerant of cricket.
From there, despite at least two attacks in the past couple of years on cricket matches by the Islamic State group, the game now rivals football for popularity in a country that has long been cut off from international sport.
Admitted as a full member of the ICC in 2017, Afghanistan won their first five-day Test against Ireland last month after making steady progress in the lower levels of the international game. However it is in the dynamic, shorter form of the sport that Afghans have had most impact.
Players such as spin bowler Rashid Khan or big-hitting batsman Mohammad Nabi have become undisputed stars of the IPL (IPL). They also regularly play in other T20 tournaments like the Big Bash (Australia) and Caribbean Premier League (West Indies)
Despite the Taliban’s former suspicion of organised sports and their opposition to much of the transformation in Afghanistan since their hardline Islamic regime was toppled in 2001, many of the mainly Pashtun movement’s fighters are fans.
Unlike football, which offends the sensibilities of some very conservative Muslims because it is normally played in shorts, cricket is played in long sleeves and trousers, in line with traditional dress codes. It also bears some resemblance to traditional Afghan children’s games involving throwing and using sticks to hit smaller sticks or balls.
Karim Sadiq, a former batsman in the national team and an early pioneer of the sport who visited some Taliban-controlled areas in eastern Afghanistan this year, said he was mobbed by fighters asking about the game and their favourite players.
“I like all the players but my favourite is Rashid Khan,” said one fighter, referring to the young spin bowler who stars for the Afghan national side and Sunrisers Hyderabad. “His bowling is amazing.”
With the approach of the cricket World Cup in England and Wales from May to July, Afghanistan’s hopes of making a dent in the tournament are higher than they have ever been, even if few give them a chance against giants of the game such as India, Australia or England.
“We have a very strong team and my dream is Afghanistan bring the World Cup home,” said Hazrat Gul, a young cricketer here, as he prepared to play a friendly match against a team from neighbouring Kunar province.
Well that’s definitely a dream too far, but for the present, it is cricket that is slowly but surely bringing the strife-torn nation together. One can be sure that on days the Afghan team take the field to play their World Cup games, the hardcore Talibans and the moderates who rule the country now… will pray together for the success of their players.
Sport they say is a great unifier of human beings. Cricket once more proves that.
PNN & Agencies
