Afghanistan-Australia Test Match Set To Be Cancelled Citing Taliban's Ban On Women's Cricket

Taliban has banned Afghanistan women cricket team to play the sport. In protest against the Taliban's decision, Australia has announced that they will not play the one-off test match with Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Test team. (File Photo)

The Afghanistan cricket team's woes are mounting after the Taliban captured the country. Cricket Australia will formally announce the indefinite suspension of the one-off Test match against Afghanistan this week. Cricket Australia has been thinking about cancelling the Test match since last month.

Cricket Australia has clarified that if the Taliban does not lift the ban on women's cricket, they will not play Afghanistan. Cricket Tasmania CEO Dominic Baker told radio station Triple M that a formal announcement in this regard is expected soon.

Baker said, "It will be formally postponed indefinitely this week. It's not acceptable that they don't allow the female sport. If they want to play competitive male sport, particularly in the cricket sphere, they're going to have to rethink what they do."

Match was scheduled in 2020

Training Camp - Afghanistan’s preparation ahead of ICC T20 Cricket World Cup photos album: pic.twitter.com/SYBBOrZogS

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 27, 2021

Taliban has stated that women's cricket will not continue in the country. Baker said Cricket Australia would keep the chances of hosting the Test later if the situation improves in Afghanistan.

The one-off Test was originally scheduled in 2020 but was postponed to November 27 this year because of the Covid-19.

The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) had supported CA's decision to postpone the game. The association said that it wants to see players like Rashid Khan play in Australia, but it is also very important to give the same importance to women's cricket.