Most of you cricket enthusiasts may be aware of India U-19’s recent victory at the 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies. It was the fifth time an Indian team has won at this junior world event and probably won’t be the last time either, as they beat England U-19 in the final rather comfortably to lift the trophy and go back home as world champions.
Now while it’s a happy ending for them, it as heartbreak for other teams who tried but couldn’t get past the line. One such team was Afghanistan U-19 and not many would’ve expected them to reach as far as the semi final of the 2022 U-19 World Cup. But they got there and eventually lost only by 15 run (D/L method) to England, and their players and management left the scene with tearful eyes.
Afghanistan U-19 players seek asylum
But the real sad part of their journey has come to light after the World Cup ended. While returning from the West Indies, they stopped in transit in UK and as per reports, four members of the team and staff combined have decided to stay back and seek asylum in the UK. And we can only assume that this is because of the current political situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has taken over the country.
Ever since their hostile takeover last year, 100,000+ Afghanistan people have fled the country and south asylum elsewhere. As per reports, the Afghanistan U-19 Head Coach Raees Ahmadzai urged these players to return to their country and rethink their decision of staying back, but he didn’t hear back from them as per our latest update on this story.
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While there has been tensions in the country, sportspersons haven’t technically been affected and in fact, coach Ahmadzai mentioned that these young players have a big role to play in the development of other careers in the future. As per UK rules, people are only allowed to stay in the UK for as long as 48 hours when on transit, so we’ll have a further development on this story soon.
Further reports coming in say that there’s just one player involved, and three other staff members, including a doctor and video analyst. And this isn’t even the first time such a thing has happened, with U-19 players seeking asylum in Canada in 2009, after the World Cup qualifiers ended in Toronto. From them, Shahid Ahmadzai and Asghar Kotak went on to even represent Canada in cricket.
This is the first time such an incident has taken place since the Taliban takeover last year, and it probably won’t be the last either. If you remember, Taliban banned women’s cricket in the country as well. From among the top names in the recent U-19 squad, Noor Ahmad is said to have already landed in Lahore where the PSL 2022 season is underway.
For more updates from the rest of the cricketing world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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