Hashmatullah Shahidi sends bold message to Taliban government, backs Afghanistan Women to play cricket

Afghanistan National Cricket Team skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi opened up about their Women's team not playing cricket. He said that they want everyone to play but the situation is out of their control as it's a political thing.

One of the major political issues that is there in the cricketing world is Afghanistan women not playing cricket. The Taliban government in the country has banned women from playing sports, and this has attracted a lot of negative reactions from people across the globe.

Afghanistan have faced a lot of criticism for not allowing women to play cricket

Cricket Australia has taken a massive stance against it as they canceled the series twice against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team due to the decision of the Taliban government. They categorically mentioned that women's rights are equally important, and they will only play once the women in the country are allowed to play.

Even the politicians in England, as well as South Africa, called on the ECB and CSA to boycott playing against Afghanistan Men's National Cricket Team in protest against the Taliban government for their decision to ban women from all aspects of the sports.

We control what we can do inside the ground and we can't worry about what's happening out of the ground - Hashmatullah Shahidi

Hashmatullah Shahidi shared his take on the same, saying that he wants women in his country to play, but it is something they cannot control. He added that they can only control what they can do inside the ground. Speaking to the reports ahead of the game against England National Cricket Team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, he said:

"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 on the ground."

"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."

Hopefully, we have some support in tomorrow's game for our spinners - Hashmatullah Shahidi

Hashmatullah Shahidi talked about their last loss against South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, admitting that they didn't play well. He stressed that there wasn't much help for their spinners in the wicket as it was suited for fast bowlers. He elaborated:

"I think when we bat first, that gives us more of a chance. 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 a 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. So yeah, 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."

Afghanistan will be facing England in the virtual knockout game on Wednesday. Both the teams lost their opening games and would be keen to make a comeback.

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