By Apoorva Misra,Manoj Gupta,News18

Copyright news18

Cricket in Afghanistan is no longer just a sport—it is now a symbol of resistance and remembrance. Sources in the Taliban have told CNN-News18 that the country is now deliberately using its national game to protest the killing of civilians, including three young cricketers, in Pakistan’s recent airstrikes on Paktika province.
In a powerful statement of defiance, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has officially withdrawn from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka, turning what was once a sporting event into a sharp diplomatic message.
The decision follows Pakistan’s October 14 airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan, which Islamabad claims were aimed at militant hideouts. But among those killed were three young Afghan cricketers—Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon—who were playing in a local tournament near Urgun district. The ACB confirmed their deaths, alongside five other civilian casualties and seven injuries.
“We mourn the tragic loss of our players. Their lives and dreams were cut short by unjust violence,” the ACB said in a statement. It said that it “considers this a great loss for Afghanistan’s sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family”, while extending its “deepest condolences and solidarity to the bereaved families”.
National cricket captain Rashid Khan joined the growing outrage, describing the airstrike as a “heinous crime” and calling for international attention. “Cricket is meant to unite and uplift. But how can we play when our people are being buried under rubble?” he posted on social media.
“The massacre of innocent civilians and our domestic cricket players by these oppressors is a heinous, unforgivable crime,” wrote Afghan international cricketer Fazalhaq Farooqi on Facebook.
The cricketers’ remarks ignited widespread condemnation across the global cricket community, amplifying calls for accountability.
The phrase ‘No humanity, no cricket’ is now trending in Afghanistan and ACB’s boycott is seen as both a symbolic funeral for the fallen players and a strategic act of protest.
By refusing to play Pakistan, Afghanistan is drawing a red line: sport cannot proceed in the shadow of bloodshed. The decision also isolates Pakistan further, damaging its already fragile image in regional sports and diplomacy circles.
According to foreign policy experts, Afghanistan’s move has fundamentally altered the nature of sports diplomacy in the region. Cricket, once a rare avenue for engagement between rival nations, is now being wielded as a political and moral weapon.
Pakistan launched air strikes inside Afghanistan late on Friday, killing at least 10 people and breaking a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border. The 48-hour truce paused nearly a week of bloody border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides.
“Pakistan has broken the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika” province, a senior Taliban official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Afghanistan will retaliate.”