Afghanistan's one-off Test against Australia in November to happen as scheduled, says Taliban

Afghanistan’s first Test match against Australia is likely to go ahead as scheduled after the Taliban informed that there won’t be any stoppage from their side to the already organized cricket matches. Since mid-August, the country has been in terrible political turmoil after the Taliban took over the country’s capital Kabul and successfully overthrew the government.

There were previous reports that the Taliban has nothing against cricket and want the national team to continue thriving as they have been in the last few years. Unfortunately, Afghanistan’s ODI series against Pakistan, which was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka from September first week, has now been postponed due to logistical reasons.

However, Afghanistan men’s team trained at the Kabul International Cricket Stadium even after the Taliban takeover. Ahmadullah Wasiq, who is the deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, has said that the Test match between Australia and Afghanistan, which is supposed to be played in Hobart in November, will go on as scheduled.

Australia-Afghanistan one-off to be played in Hobart from November 27

“[All previously organized matches] will continue without interruption, and [the Afghan team] can play with other international teams. In the future, we want good relations with all countries. When good relations are established, Afghan players can go [to Australia] and they can come here,” he said while talking to SBS Pashto, reported Sportskeeda.

The Australian summer of 2021-22 will be a huge task for Cricket Australia (CA). Apart from the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan, to be played at Blundstone Arena in Hobart between November 27 and December 1, there is a five-match Ashes series as well. As a matter of fact, CA has also started their arrangements for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

In SBS’s report, there were details about the match which was shared by an anonymous spokesperson of the CA. He allegedly said that the ties between CA and Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have been good and both the boards are working hard to make the inaugural Test between the two countries a reality. The two teams have played in the ODI format a few times but never in the Test format. Afghanistan made their Test debut only in 2018 and have since played only four matches in the red-ball format.