'Their Eyes Full Of Fear': Naveen-ul-Haq Talks About Afghan Cricketers’ Agony Post Taliban Takeover

Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq opened up about the mental condition of his fellow players ever since the Taliban takeover.

New Delhi: Ever since Taliban's takeover of the political reins in Afghanistan, they have given several assurances to the Afghanistan Cricket Board and cricketing fans all over the world that it won't interfere in the country's cricket. But it seems that the Afghan cricketers are not believing it and are scared about the future of the sport in their country.

A day earlier, Taliban had appointed Azizullah Fazli as the new chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board. However, still the players are a bit afraid that something unpleasant may happen.

Recently, Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq opened up about the mental condition of his fellow players ever since the Taliban takeover. He revealed that there's still a fear in the minds of the players about the Taliban.

“The fear is there in their eyes, in their voices, even in their messages. The Taliban have said (they) won't be troubling any sportsman, but nobody knows… If you find positive news, if you see people happy together, it's only cricket… that brings it to the country. It's that important to Afghanistan.  It's more than a game for Afghanistan's people," Haq said in a BBC radio interview.

 “You forget about it for a minute or two to focus on cricket but it jumps into your mind again. I can't say that I will be fully focused on playing only cricket because you can't when you see your country like that," Haq said.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan vs Pakistan ODI is set to take place in all likelihood from 3 September 2021. There isn't an official confirmation on the series yet but Pakistan has issued the visas to Afghanistan players, which has made it almost clear that the ODI series will take place in Sri Lanka.

The visas have been issued to the Afghans to ensure that they reach Sri Lanka via Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the commercial flights have been banned from Kabul after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.