Afghanistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup 2021 confirmed by ICC’s interim CEO

The International Cricket Council (ICC) acting CEO Geoff Allardice reaffirmed that Afghanistan’s participation in the forthcoming T20 World Cup 2021 is not in jeopardy, which is good news for Afghan cricket. According to rumours, the International Cricket Council (ICC) may refuse to allow Afghanistan to compete in the showcase tournament if the team chooses to play under the Taliban flag amid the country’s current crisis.

Afghanistan cricket has been in disarray since the Taliban took control of the country’s governmental system. With the Taliban opposing women’s cricket, Cricket Australia threatened the Afghanistan Cricket Body (ACB) with cancelling the historic Test match in November if the national board would not promote the sport. In additional bad news for ACB, ICC is allegedly considering prohibiting Afghanistan’s involvement.

Despite this, the ICC dismissed the reports, claiming that Afghanistan is a full member of the organisation. “They are full members of the ICC, and the team is currently training for the event (World Cup) and will compete in the group league. It’s going as usual in terms of their engagement,” Allardice remarked during a virtual conference call.

Last month, the Taliban replaced Hamid Shinwari as chairman of the ACB with Naseed Zadran Khan. As a result, it will be intriguing to see how the board evolves. Geoff Allardice also revealed that ICC would be watching to see what kind of transition and new policies ACB would face.