2-37

0:

Nothing has gone well for Afghanistan cricket fans in the past few days. They have been barred from different sources of entertainment and the latest addition in the list is the IPL. The Taliban, who is currently ruling the Middle-east nation, has warned the media outlets in Afghanistan to not to broadcast the second leg of the Indian Premier League over the presence of females in the crowd and at the ground.

An Afghan journalist informed about the same in a Tweet he shared on Tuesday morning. “Ridiculous: Taliban have banned the broadcasting of Indian Premier League (IPL) in Afghanistan. Taliban have warned that Afghan media outlets should not broadcast the Indian Cricket League due to girls dancing and the presence of female audience and spectators in stadiums,” he wrote in the Tweet.

We are committed to maintaining and supporting women cricket: ACB

Notably, the Taliban has completely banned women from taking part in any kind of sporting activity. However, they have said that they don’t mind men playing cricket and themselves played a match in capital Kabul after the foreign forces withdrew. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has, however, assured that they will find a way and said they are committed to promoting women’s game. "The new government of Afghanistan is focusing on its priority programmes. They haven't told us anything regarding women cricket (but) we are committed to maintaining and supporting women cricket,” said ACB Chairman Azizullah Fazli.

After it was announced that women in Afghanistan will not be allowed to play cricket, Cricket Australia has said that they will have to rethink about their Test against Afghanstan. “Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia….If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart,” the statement read. However, ACB chairman said that the CA communication was a result of misunderstanding and they will clear things up.