da betsson： Jos Buttler, meanwhile, says England’s players are “very saddened” by the situation in Afghanistan
da heads bet： Danyal Rasool25-Feb-20251:56
Shahidi and Buttler discuss women’s rights situation in Afghanistan
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has voiced his support for Afghanistan’s women to play cricket, but reiterated that the situation was something “we cannot control”. Speaking ahead of Afghanistan’s training session before they face England in Lahore in the Champions Trophy on Wednesday, Shahidi said the focus for his side remained on what happened “inside the ground”.”Everyone likes to see everyone play,” Shahidi said. “When it comes to politics and those things which we cannot control, we are only cricket players, we can control things in the ground.”The issue was thrust into sharper focus because of who Afghanistan are playing. In the weeks building up to this game, more than 160 politicians in the UK called on the ECB to boycott the fixture against Afghanistan in protest against the Taliban government refusing to allow women to play cricket in the country. The UK prime minister Keir Starmer called on the ICC to “enforce their own rules”, but the ECB ultimately rejected calls to boycott the fixture.Related
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Shahidi, though, stressed that his focus, and that of the men’s team, remained on their upcoming fixture. “We are sportspersons. We control what we can do inside the ground and we can’t worry about what’s happening out of the ground. We play hard, we work hard, we have good net sessions. So that’s what we’re thinking of.”His somewhat guarded statement of support lined up with other high-profile Afghan cricketers who have spoken up in support of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi were most outspoken late last year when they reacted to women being banned from training as doctors.Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said that his team was “very saddened” by the situation faced by women and girls in Afghanistan, which the ECB has described as “gender apartheid” when confirming earlier this month that the game will go ahead .”I’ve taken a lot of advice from lots of experts,” Buttler said. “Credit to Rob Key and the ECB. They have been very good at supporting me and all the players, and giving us information and education around this, and making it an ECB decision.”We’re very saddened at the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan at the moment, and the struggles they are facing. But we hope that the game tomorrow can be a source of hope and enjoyment in what is obviously a tough time at the moment. We’re very excited about the match. Sport has a great power to unite people and give hope, and that’s what we hope this game will do.”Shahidi: “We play hard, we work hard, we have good net sessions. So that’s what we’re thinking of”•ICC/Getty Images
Earlier on Tuesday, Afghanistan head coach and former England batter Jonathan Trott told the BBC that the men’s cricketers knew what was happening was “not correct”.”These guys are brave,” he said. “They know the difference between right and wrong. It is a real tricky situation for them. They know who they are playing for and representing. We work hard to bring joy to the country and the guys are passionate, brave and proud of being able to do that, but knowing full well that there are things that are not correct.”The game between Afghanistan and England is virtually a knockout game, with defeat for either side leaving them on the brink of exit. Afghanistan lost their opening game to South Africa, while England were defeated by Australia. Shahidi acknowledged chasing totals was not Afghanistan’s most obvious route to victory, but also suggested the pitch in Karachi did not assist spin bowling at all.”When we bat first, that gives us more of a chance,” he said. “But at the same time, we beat teams in the last World Cup also, batting second. But in the South Africa game, I think that the wicket was little bit more supportive for fast bowling and when our spinners were bowling, there was no support for them. I didn’t even see one ball turning.”We didn’t play well, especially in batting we didn’t start well. At the same time, it’s not an excuse but the world knows that we have good spinners. I didn’t see any support there, but hopefully we have some support in tomorrow’s game for our spinners.”The last time these two sides played in an ODI, Afghanistan beat England by 69 runs in Delhi at the 2023 World Cup, when their spinners shared eight wickets.2.15pm GMT – This story was updated to include Jos Buttler’s quotes.
