Taliban took over from the democratically elected government of Afghanistan. The evacuation process via commercial flights will be on a halt. Afghanistan cricketers, Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi who are part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be taking part in the tournament, despite the airspace closure. The question is, how?
Actually, both Rashid and Nabi are currently in England playing in the 'Hundred' League for Trent Rockets and London Spirits, respectively. They both will be involved in the competition till 21 August. The IPL begins on 19 September, thus, it is expected that both of them will travel directly to UAE with the Indian team that is currently in England playing the Test match series.
Thus, both Rashid and Nabi would be involved in IPL, despite the airspace closure.
"It is too early to comment but we are keeping a watch. For us, nothing changes and we expect Rashid and other Afghan players would be part of IPL," a senior BCCI source told PTI.
Rashid Worried For His Family
Rashid Khan's family is still in Afghanistan even after the Taliban took over the country. He opened up about his worries to England's former cricketer Kevin Pietersen.
"We had a long chat here on the boundary talking about it and he (Rashid Khan) is worried: he can't get his family out of Afghanistan and there's a lot of things happening for him," Kevin Pietersen told Sky Sports.
Rashid Khan had appealed for peace a few days back on Twitter. He had written: "Dear World Leaders! My country is in chaos, thousand of innocent people, including children & women, get martyred everyday, houses & properties being destructed. Thousands of families displaced. Don''t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans & destroying of Afghanistan. We want peace."