Afghan cricket prodigy from refugee camps to World Cup semi-final, but marred by gender apartheid

Claims that the US victory against Pakistan in the T20 Men's Cricket World Cup was the most unexpected sporting moment of 2024 may now be seen as premature, with Afghanistan having reached the semi-finals and leaving teams like Australia in their wake.

When the tournament began on June 1, most observers would have considered a semi-final lineup without Australia highly unlikely. That the 2021 champions were dispatched by Afghanistan would have been almost unthinkable. Even now, the idea that these cricket minnows could go further and reach the final is almost unthinkable.

But over the years, Afghanistan's men have recorded victories against England, Pakistan, the West Indies and Sri Lanka. Some players become big names within the T20 franchise leagues around the world.

For example, attacking all-rounder Mohammed Nabi was the first Afghan cricketer to be bought at the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman is another short format specialist and the most marketable cricketer is a mystery spinner.

And in the ever-youthful T20 captain, Rashid Khan, they have what former England captain Michael Vaughan describes as the best spinner in the world.

But perhaps overall, this team, coached by former England batsman Jonathan Trott, is greater than the sum of its parts, with Tuesday's narrow victory over Bangladesh in the closing stages of the Super 8s World Cup undoubtedly the greatest moment in relative brief history of Afghan cricket.

And almost as unexpected as the team's progress itself was a congratulatory video call from a member of the ruling Taliban government.

If one journalist noted: This unexpected exchange underscored a rare moment of shared pride, combining sports and diplomacy amid complex political dynamics.

This tells a story for cricket in Afghanistan. Everything they have achieved has been done against a hugely problematic cultural and political landscape. Journalist Bilal Sarwary even described the victory against Bangladesh as less equal and more a testament to Afghan resilience.

Against all expectations

The game really gained momentum when it was brought back from cricket-mad Pakistan by Afghans forced to flee the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. But one oppressive regime was quickly replaced by another as the Taliban strangled the country’s cultural progress. For Afghans, their cricket was, as one journalist wrote as the team prepared to take on hosts England in the 2019 One-Day World Cup: like their country, has been hardened by decades of war.

And while men's cricket escaped the Taliban's harsh cultural repression and formed its national team in 2001, women's cricket was banned when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.

But the repression extends far beyond the playing field; women cannot attend high schools and universities, cannot travel without male chaperones, and are banned from many public places. Even beauty salons have been closed by the Taliban; Afghan women's rights activist Mahbouba Seraj noticed that women are slowly being erased from society, from life, from everything.

As a result, many of the country's former women's players are out of the country life in exile and the men's teams of Australia and England, for example, have done so refused to play in every bilateral tournament against Afghanistan, while the women's ban remains in place.

However, some argue that the boycott is counterproductive because it takes away a rare source of collective pleasure from a troubled nation and its weary people. Sarah Fane OBEsuggests an English doctor who contributed significantly to the basic development of the game in Afghanistan cricket has brought so much joy for Afghans and has given them heroes to cheer for, happy news and a game they can all start playing.

Rashid Khan himself describes cricket as the only source of happiness at home. He states that if the national team can play against Australia in the World Cup, they should be able to play a bilateral series together.

But there is even more fear. While the men's team is often presented as one unifying force For a fragmented country, some argue that the reality is different, with team selection a strong preference for Pashtuns and discriminating against people of different ethnic origins.

In that sense, Rashid Khan and his team may be more comfortable on the pitch than off it. Speaking out must be difficult and he pragmatically suggests that he and his teammates are sportsmen can only think about cricket. Most neutrals who love the idea of ​​a plucky underdog taking down the Crickets' superpowers will hope his team has more such wins in them. But until women cricketers can be as optimistic as Afghanistan's men, the country's uplifting success will be at least partially overshadowed.

As one of the women's teams observed from her exile in Australia after the men qualified for the semi-finals: You made history. Be happy, celebrate. Now the world is yours, and you add ruefully that although many others had the same talent, the same goal, the same skill, they cannot play simply because they are women.