When gutsy Afghan women cricketers go to war with Taliban

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A women’s cricket team from Afghanistan! Is this some sort of a joke? Or a cricketing example of oxymoron? How can a country where women are not allowed in public places unescorted allow members of the fairer sex to take part in a sport watched by thousands of people directly and by millions through television? Is it possible for women from that country who face restrictions on everything right from the attire they wear to taking part in disciplines of sport where the requirements of mobility and flexibility take precedence over the societal norms on dress worn and exposure of skin.
But this miracle of a side comprising of women from Afghanistan, where the government is run by Taliban, a fundamentalist group of Islam, playing cricket took place in Melbourne on January 30. The women cricketers of Afghanistan who had escaped from this country when Taliban took over the reins of power in Kabul, following the withdrawal of forces from USA, came together to form the nucleus of the side. They played a T20 game against a “Cricket without Borders” side at Junction Oval ground. This match was organised by Cricket Australia, Cricket without Borders and the Australian Government.
Incidentally, Cricket without Borders (CwoB) is an organisation set up in Australia dedicated to the cause of promoting the game amongst women. This came into existence in the early years of the second decade of the present century. They have been sending their sides to other countries to play cricket and promote their cause.

The story of women cricketers who took part in this game is a tale of rare courage and determination. Afghanistan Cricket Board had handed over contracts to 25 women cricketers by end 2020, three years after the country was granted “full member “ status by International Cricket Council (ICC). The women’s side was preparing for a match with Oman in September 2021, when Kabul fell to Taliban. Though Taliban was gaining strength, the fall of the previous regime in a swift and sudden manner was completely unexpected. The women cricketers had to stop their training and go into hiding to save their lives, given the history of intolerance of Taliban and its leaders towards participation of women in sports and related activities.
It was through the efforts of Sharda Ugra, the renowned sports journalist form India, that these cricketers could escape from Afghanistan and migrate to Australia. Ugra knew that members of the Afghanistan women’s football team had fled the country before the Taliban takeover. She spoke to Mel Jones, former Aussie player and requested her to talk to the players and use her good offices to arrange visas for them. Jones touched base with Benfsha Hashimi and asked her whether she or any of her colleagues were keen on getting out from Afghanistan. Hashimi eagerly jumped at the offer upon which Jones asked her to prepare a list of players, coaches, officials and their close relatives who wanted to move out. Hashimi gave a big list, which the Australian Government worked on to issue visas. It is estimated that close to 130 persons from this list managed to flee from Afghanistan.
Getting out from the country was more difficult than coordinating with authorities in Cricket Australia and the Australian government for issuance of visas. Many of them had to travel to Pakistan citing false reasons while some chose to cross the border clandestinely. They left behind their cricket kits and all articles of clothing that could have given rise to suspicion and even had to undergo a mandatory period of quarantine in Pakistan before boarding the flight to Melbourne. After reaching Australia, they resumed playing cricket, while trying to rebuild their lives by finding jobs and studying English, a language most had to learn from scratch.
After settling down in Australia, these gutsy cricketers wrote to ICC requesting that they be allowed to take part in international tournaments as a refugee side. ICC did not respond to their request, which came as a huge disappointment. However, Cricket Australia extended support to women cricketers in Afghanistan by refusing to play bilateral series against this country, though the two sides take on each other in ICC tournaments.
The role of ICC comes into sharp focus here. ICC’s charter mandates that all full members should have satisfactory women’s progress pathways in place. It is obvious that not only does Afghanistan not have such structures in place but they prohibit participation of women in this game. This is a clear contravention of ICC’s charter, warranting strong action. But ICC has desisted from taking any action on the side till date. This is on account of the fact that suspending the side will only succeed in disallowing cricketers of this country from taking part in international cricket and is not likely to have any impact on the Taliban administration. This will only lead to increasing the isolation suffered by the country and serve to increase their animosity to the rest of the world. Hence ICC has been treading carefully, trying to give opportunities for the national side of Afghanistan in the hope that their success will lead to a surge in national pride and happiness, which, in turn, may coax Taliban to take a more positive approach to sports, in general, and bring down gender based discrimination. This may not be a perfect recipe for success against an organisation like Taliban but offers the only hope in an otherwise troubled landscape.

A straight comparison of the situation in Afghanistan with the one that prevailed in South Africa prior to 1991 may not be fair. It is a fact that disallowing participation of South Africa from major sporting events was one of the factors that forced the erstwhile regime to give up the policy of “apartheid”, the form of discrimination based on colour of skin, that prevailed in that country. An entire generation of sportspersons from South Africa had to miss out taking part in international competitions due to this ban. But the ground realities in the war torn Afghanistan of present are completely different from those that prevailed in South Africa, where the economy thrived due to its plentiful natural resources, till the economic embargo took its toll.
In events like Olympics where individuals take part, there exists the option of allowing refugee athletes to take part under the banner of one of the participating countries. This option is not readily available in a team sport. Further, when the controlling body for the game in the country is not able to nominate a side due to political reasons, allowing a group of players based outside to represent the nation is very tricky. There is every possibility that Taliban regime may see red and even force the withdrawal of their men’s side from international cricket if such a situation arises, besides stopping their travel outside the country.
The action of Cricket Australia in standing up for the brave women cricketers from Afghanistan is a very noble one and deserves wholesome praise. Measures like these may not yield any immediate results but will contribute to chipping away at the gender-based intolerance and discrimination practised in Afghanistan. Many more battles lie ahead before this war can be won but each small step taken is a move in the correct direction of dismantling the structure that places hurdles in the avenues for growth and development of a substantial portion of the population in a war ravaged country that has enjoyed very little peace for many decades.