IPL 2021: Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi’s participation in focus as Taliban takes over Afghanistan

Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi are not in Afghanistan. They are in United Kingdom, competing in the ‘The Hundred’ tournament. Rashid is playing for Trent Rockets and Nabi is representing London Spirits.

Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Rashid Khan. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

With political situation taking a new turn in Afghanistan, uncertainty and unpredictability is looming around the future of their top cricketers, especially Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi, who are due to compete in the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE from September 19. The Taliban is set to take over the reins of the South Asian country as President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled to Tajikistan.

Rashid and Nabi are not in Afghanistan. They are in United Kingdom, competing in the ‘The Hundred’ tournament. Rashid is playing for Trent Rockets and Nabi is representing London Spirits.

The BCCI is keeping an eye on the developments and is hoping to see participation of Afghan players in the India Premier League. “It is too early to comment but we are keeping a watch. For us, nothing changes and we expect Rashid and other Afghan players would be part of IPL,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI.

It remains to be seen if Rashid and Nabi stay back in the UK after completion of ‘The Hundred’ on August 21 as they have families back home. And if they stay back in UK, it will be interesting to see if the BCCI asks them to be on the same charter flight that will take the Indian players to the UAE from Manchester on September 15.

Both Rashid and Nabi play for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The BCCI is expected to speak with the Afghanistan Cricket Board on situation.

As an Afghan, I bleed to see where my beloved country is today. Afghanistan descends into Chaos and there has been a substantial rise in calamity and tragedy and is currently in humanitarian crisis. Families are forced to leave their homes behind and head to Kabul with an unknown — Mohammad Nabi (@MohammadNabi007) August 10, 2021

As per ICC’s FTP schedule, Afghanistan are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for six white-ball games this month but the final schedule is still not out yet. Rashid is Afghanistan’s T20 captain.

Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb Zadran are some of the Afghanistan players who are regular feature in IPL teams. Rashid is one of the most sought after T20 freelancers in world cricket currently.

“Dear World Leaders! My country is in chaos, thousand of innocent people, including children & women, get martyred everyday, houses & properties being destructed. Thousands of families displaced. Don’t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans & destroying of Afghanistan. We want peace,” Rashid had tweeted a few days back.

(with PTI inputs)