Afghanistan's young bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has withdrawn from the ongoing Big Bash League following Cricket Australia's (CA) decision to cancel the scheduled ODI series against Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan’s young bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has withdrawn from the ongoing Big Bash League following Cricket Australia’s (CA) decision to cancel the scheduled ODI series against Afghanistan. CA’s decision follows the Taliban’s decision to further restrict women’s rights in the war-torn country. Previously, CA had postponed its scheduled one-off Test match against Afghanistan at the start of the 2020-21 home summer, disappointing the Afghanistan cricket community, including top international players Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.
Taking to Twitter, the 23-year-old stated that he ‘will not be participating’ in the Big Bash League (BBL), Australia’s main T20 competition, as a protest against CA’s decision to cancel the scheduled series against Afghanistan. “Time to say won’t be participating in big bash after this until they stop these childish decisions that’s how they went about the one-off test now ODI when a country is going through so much place of being supportive you want to take the only reason of happiness from them #CA,” the Afghanistan pacer said in his tweet.
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Rashid Khan has too threatened to leave the BBL, where he plays for the Adelaide Strikers, in response to Cricket Australia’s decision to withdraw its men’s team from a bilateral ODI series against Afghanistan in March due to the Taliban’s stance prohibiting girls from attending university in the country. “I am really disappointed to hear that Australia have pulled out of the series to play us in March,” Rashid said. “I take great pride in representing my country, and we have made great progress on the world stage. This decision from CA sets us back on that journey. If playing vs Afghanistan is so uncomfortable for Australia, then I wouldn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable with my presence in the BBL. Therefore, I will be strongly considering my future in that competition.”
During the recent T20 World Cup, Australia faced Afghanistan in Adelaide. They are planning to meet Afghanistan twice more in the next Future Tours cycle, with three Twenty20 Internationals scheduled at a neutral venue in August 2024, and Afghanistan scheduled to travel to Australia in August 2026 for one Test and three T20Is.
