KABUL: The Afghan cricket team will face Pakistan for a white-ball series in September ahead of the T20 World Cup in 2021, officials at the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said on Monday.
The three-match series, which includes three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and an equal number of Twenty20s, will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“It’s very important for both countries,” Farid Hotak, ACB media officer, told Arab News, saying the winner of the series would have a better ranking in the World Cup.
He said the Pakistan series would be followed by cricket matches against Australia, India, and the West Indies.
“It is part of the ODI league matches to qualify for the World Cup 2021,” ACB Director Raees Ahmadzai said. “We played three matches already with Ireland and won all three.”
Both Hotak and Ahmadzai rejected media reports the cricket matches were a result of a meeting between Afghan cricketer Mohammad Nabi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this year when Khan vowed to ensure a cricket series between the two neighbors.
Several Afghans, residing as refugees in Pakistan for the past few decades, have learnt to play the sport in the neighboring country, enjoying global success in recent years by defeating more experienced and renowned cricketing nations.
Afghan cricket players, especially the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Golbadin Naib, have become a source of pride for the war-torn nation, both at home and abroad.
A recent escalation in violence across Afghanistan – part of decades of conflict in the war-ravaged nation – has also impacted the country’s gaming sector, with a number of sporting events, including cricket matches, coming under attack.
In May 2018, at least eight people were killed and dozens injured in a series of blasts during a cricket match in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. In September 2017, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint near the main cricket stadium in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least three people as a tournament was under way.
Afghanistan to play white-ball series against Pakistan in UAE in September
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Afghanistan to play white-ball series against Pakistan in UAE in September
- The three-match series includes three One-Day Internationals and an equal number of Twenty20s
- Pakistan series to be followed by cricket matches against Australia, India, and West Indies
Pakistan lauds Qatar for Gaza peace efforts, facilitating talks with Afghanistan
- PM Shehbaz Sharif greets Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Qatar’s National Day occasion
- Qatar hosted peace talks between Pakistan, Afghanistan after fierce border clashes in October
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised Qatar on Thursday for its role in bringing about a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and facilitating talks between neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Qatar led negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at easing the Gaza conflict, working with nations like the US to reach a ceasefire and secure humanitarian pauses and prisoner exchanges. Doha also facilitated de-escalation talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in October after the neighbors engaged in fierce border clashes. This elevated the Gulf nation to the status of a crisis mediator of the region on the international stage.
Sharif was speaking to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the occasion of the Gulf country’s National Day. The Pakistani premier congratulated the Qatari ruler and wished the country continued peace, progress and prosperity.
“During the call, the Prime Minister also lauded Qatar’s valuable role in efforts to bring peace in Gaza,” the PMO said.
“He expressed his deep appreciation for Qatar’s facilitation of talks aimed at easing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Pakistan has sought closer ties with Qatar in recent months. Sharif visited Doha in a show of solidarity after Israel’s airstrikes on the country in September, while Qatar publicly supported Pakistan during a brief military conflict with India in May, which Islamabad has highlighted as evidence of a deepening two-way partnership.
“He reaffirmed Pakistan’s abiding commitment to further strengthening of the longstanding and multifaceted bilateral partnership between the two brotherly countries,” the PMO said.
Sharif invited the Qatari emir to visit Pakistan “at a mutually convenient date,” the PMO said.
Al Thani thanked Sharif for the National Day greetings and expressed his “strong commitment” to further strengthen ties between the two nations, Sharif’s office said.
