Rashid Khan supports women’s cricket in Afghanistan: Rashid Khan will captain Afghanistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup. He was a semi-finalist in the previous edition of the competition. Afghanistan has been one of the best teams in world cricket. They have been defeating big teams in International Cricket Council (ICC) events over the last few years.
Afghanistan has been drawn with South Africa and New Zealand in what is probably a group of death. They will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on February 8. Before the game, Rashid Khan held a pre-match press conference, where he talked about supporting women’s cricket in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan women’s cricket still gets support
Afghanistan, which has been under the control of Taliban. Rashid Khan discussed the sensitive topic of women’s cricket in Afghanistan, giving people a rare opportunity to hear about his views amid growing international criticism.
Afghanistan’s position in international cricket is still hampered by the fact that many Afghan women cricket players are currently in exile after fleeing the Taliban government. She expressed her views on the importance of full ICC membership and expressed her pride in seeing her women’s team represent the country on any platform.
Rashid Khan supports Afghan women’s team
Rashid said in the pre-match press conference, “Women’s team? Definitely. I think it’s part of the criteria to be a full member. The ICC and the Afghanistan Cricket Board know better, but we love to see anyone representing Afghanistan on any platform. It’s a proud moment, and you are representing your country.”
In 2025, Afghanistan women’s cricketer Firozha Amiri requested the men’s team to publicly support women in the conflict-affected country. He believed that the increasing popularity of the men’s team would help them advance women’s cricket in Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan captain also mentioned the restrictions imposed on the players. He also pointed out that decisions are ultimately taken by the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the ICC, and not by individual cricketers.
Rashid Khan concluded, “But yes, ultimately the decision lies with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the ICC. As players, we don’t have much control and can only focus on what we can influence. In this situation, we can take very small decisions, but our support will always be there. Big decisions are made by the people in charge, and they take it forward.”
ICC took initiative to support
Last year, the apex body had announced that Afghanistan’s refugee women’s team will be supported in the Women’s World Cup 2025 in India and Sri Lanka and the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in England. The decision was made during the ICC annual conference last July to support the Afghanistan women’s team, which left the country following the return of the Taliban to power in 2021.
The initiative was led by ICC Vice Chairman Imran Khawaja with support from BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia. The program featured training camps and matches against domestic teams. The refugee team was in attendance during the opening match of the 2025 Women’s World Cup in Guwahati.
Also read: Rashid Khan warns India and other teams of brutal T20 World Cup final
