Afghan cricket team might get expulsed from the upcoming T20 WC 2021 if they bear the Taliban flag

Afghanistan might face ejection from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 which will commence on 17th October in the UAE if they play under the Taliban flag. All the participating 16 teams must submit their flags under which they will be taking part in the tournament. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is yet to get any update on Afghan cricket.

Taliban came to power in Afghanistan back in August and their cricket has faced a lot of issues since then. Initially, Afghanistan is scheduled to play a one-off Test match against Australia that will start on 27th November in Hobart. However, the match is now at stake as Cricket Australia (CA) has taken a decision to withdraw if the Taliban doesn’t change its views on women’s cricket.

Earlier, the chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Hamid Shinwari was sacked and Naseeb Zadran Khan was named for that position. Seeming, the Taliban were responsible for that decision. There’s no confirmation on which flag Afghanistan will hoist for the upcoming ICC event but the ICC is certainly concerned about that.

One of the world-famous journals, The Telegraph reported that the ICC may call an emergency meeting to decide Afghanistan’s fate in the multi-nation tournament if they decide to take part under the Taliban flag. The members could vote against the participation of the Asian team in the competition in the board meeting.

The ICC hasn’t reached a solution regarding filling up the space if Afghanistan can’t take part in the prestigious tournament. The country’s membership is also at risk as they don’t have any women’s teams now. According to ICC, a full member of ICC must have a women’s team as well alongside a men’s team.

Afghanistan has achieved ICC full membership years ago. 12 out of the 17 ICC board members would have to vote against them in order to suspend them. The Afghans have played some decent cricket over the years and as a result of that, they have got direct entry to the World’s most prestigious tournament of the shortest format.

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