Australia Test captain Tim Paine has said that it would be “impossible” for Afghanistan to feature in the World T20 2021 scheduled to take place in October-November in UAE and Oman.
Paine suggested that the countries might refuse to play against the Asian nation after the Taliban has put a ban on women’s cricket in the country.
“I don’t think we want to be associated with countries that are taking opportunities or things off literally half their population,” Paine was quoted as saying on SEN radio.
“I’d imagine it’s impossible (for Afghanistan to take part) if teams are pulling out of playing against them and governments are not letting them travel to our shores.”
“How a team like that can be allowed to play in an ICC-sanctioned event is going to be very, very hard to see,” he added.
Cricket Australia had recently said that it would cancel the one-off Test match against Afghanistan that was slated to begin on November 27 in Hobart if the women’s cricket doesn’t get the support from Taliban.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced the squad for the tournament but the controversy isn't stopping.
The selectors had named Rashid Khan as the skipper of the side initially but the spinner stepped down from the position over team selection issues. The side would now be led by Mohammad Nabi.