Shahidi advocates for Afghan women to play cricket, acknowledging limitations on control

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has expressed his backing for the inclusion of women in cricket in Afghanistan, acknowledging that it is a matter beyond their control. Addressing the media before Afghanistan's training session ahead of their match against England in Lahore for the Champions Trophy, Shahidi emphasized that the team's focus is on their performances on the field.

"Everyone likes to see everyone play," Shahidi said. "When it comes to politics and those things which we cannot control, we are only cricket players we can control things in the ground."

The issue was thrust into sharper focus because of who Afghanistan are playing. In the weeks building up to this game, more than 160 politicians in the UK called on the ECB to boycott the fixture against Afghanistan in protest against the Taliban government refusing to allow women to play cricket in the country. The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on the ICC to "enforce their own rules", but the ECB ultimately rejected calls to boycott the fixture.

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Shahidi, though, reiterated his focus, and that of the men's team, remained on their upcoming fixture. "We are sportspersons. We control what we can do inside the ground and we can't worry about what's happening out of the ground. We play hard, we work hard, we have good net sessions. So that's what we're thinking of."

Shahidi's somewhat guarded statement of support lines up with other high-profile Afghan cricketers who have spoken up in support of women's rights in Afghanistan. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi were most outspoken late last year, with both players speaking after women were banned from training as doctors.

Earlier on Tuesday, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott told the BBC that the men's cricketers knew what was happening was "not correct".

"These guys are brave," he said. "They know the difference between right and wrong. It is a real tricky situation for them. They know who they are playing for and representing. We work hard to bring joy to the country and the guys are passionate, brave and proud of being able to do that, but knowing full well that there are things that are not correct."

The game between Afghanistan and England is virtually a knockout game, with defeat for either side leaving them on the brink of an early exit. Afghanistan lost their opening game to South Africa, while England were defeated by Australia. Shahidi acknowledged chasing totals was not Afghanistan's most obvious route to victory, but also suggested the pitch in Karachi did not assist spin bowling at all.

"I think when we bat first, that gives us more of a chance," he said. "But at the same time, we beat teams in the last World Cup also, batting second. But in the South Africa game, I think that the wicket was little bit more supportive for fast bowling and when our spinners were bowling, there was no support for them. I didn't even see one ball turning. So yeah, we didn't play well, especially in batting we didn't start well. At the same time, it's not an excuse but the world knows that we have good spinners. I didn't see any support there, but hopefully we have some support in tomorrow's game for our spinners."

The last time these two sides played in an ODI, Afghanistan beat England by 69 runs at the 2023 World Cup, when their spinners picked eight wickets together.