Afghan Fans Forget Crisis As T20 World Cup Team Plays

Kabul, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Oct, 2021 ) :None of the cricket fans captivated by the T20 World Cup have more reason than the Afghans to want to lose themselves in a moment of sporting joy.

Afghanistan's opening match on Monday against Scotland came just ten weeks after Taliban fighters ousted the country's former US-backed government and won a 20-year war.

"The war made us so exhausted, so tired. We want a moment of joy," said Nasir Khan Naseri, a floridly bearded 50-year-old who marched for peace in the years before the Taliban takeover.

The former social worker now helps out at the Sole Restaurant, a popular hang out in east Kabul, where men gather to sip tea and watch televised cricket while sheep carcasses are butchered and grilled.

"We want to be like other parts of the world, to enjoy the match and put aside the current situation," Naseri told AFP as Afghanistan's openers started clocking up the runs against Scotland's bowlers.

The Sole could be a kebab joint anywhere in the cricket-loving world -- aside from the security guard armed with an M4 assault rifle equipped with a telescopic sight, its black paint worn through to gunmetal grey with age.

Two Taliban fighters watched the game alongside the other clients, wearing the grey digital camo pattern shalwar kameez uniform of the city's new police force, formed since their movement seized Kabul in August.

There are no women to be seen, but the mood among the men was relaxed and cheerful.

When a local mosque loudspeaker broadcast a prayer the cashier turned off the English-language television commentary out of respect, just as Afghanistan's impressive batsmen hit 93 for two.

Before the tournament, Afghanistan's team captain Mohammad Nabi admitted that "the only happiness in Afghanistan is cricket" and said the team hopes to put a "lot of smiles on faces".

But as winter arrives the country is on the brink of an acute food shortage that threatens thousands of lives.

So far, however, the fans agree that the Taliban -- which did not ban men's cricket when they were last in power before 2001 -- have not cracked down on the daily life of men in any organised way.