Taliban officials on Monday took to social media to congratulate the Afghanistan men’s national cricket team for winning a match in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, but there was a muted response on the streets of Kabul, although such wins were celebrated enthusiastically in the past.
Afghanistan beat Scotland in a match played in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates — the first major victory for the team since the Taliban takeover of the country.
While the Taliban frown on many forms of public entertainment, cricket has been an exception, a game fighters followed closely even during the war whenever the national team was playing.
Photo: AP
“Congratulations to the team and wish them more success in the future,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter.
A spokesman for the Taliban’s Qatari office also joined in the praise, writing: “We hope for similar and even higher achievements in other fields, especially in the political, economic and scientific fields.”
The highest-profile message came from Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Acting Afghan Minister of the Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani.
“Afghanistan won,” Anas Haqqani added.
The Taliban’s representative-designate to the UN Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter: “Well done boys.”
However, there was relative silence across Kabul, where such victories were previously met with jubilation in the streets, fireworks and celebratory gunfire. The streets were mostly empty and silent. Only a few, small fireworks were seen in the Kabul sky.
The Taliban’s foes also saw the victory as significant for the country.
Amrullah Saleh, a former Afghan vice president who became one of the leaders of the anti-Taliban forces after the fall of Kabul, wrote on Twitter that the cricket team had sung a national anthem and raised a flag that the Taliban do not recognize.
Ashraf Ghani, the president who fled the country in August, said that the victory “installed new hopes in the hearts of all that this nation is alive and no one can hold it hostage.”
Despite years of violence and upheaval, Afghanistan has an enthusiastic and widespread following of cricket and residents of Kabul were eagerly anticipating the cricket world cup matches.
The governing International Cricket Council is to meet next month to determine the game’s future in Afghanistan under the Taliban government.
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