The cricketers participate in Australian league structures while not formally representing Afghanistan because they are not recognised by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). They will be invited to see the World Cup opener but will not play an official role.
In the opening game of the Women’s World Cup 2025, India will play Sri Lanka, and attention will be drawn to both the players on and off the field. The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Stadium in Guwahati will host a group of Afghan women cricket players who are now exiled in Australia. This is among the initial efforts to incorporate them into the international cricket community.
“[BCCI secretary] Devajit Saikia is fully aware of the specifics of this. We are waiting for more information, and he will lead us. “We will make arrangements for the Afghanistan players to arrive tomorrow,” ACA President Taranga Gogoi told ESPNcricinfo.
With no formal announcement from the ICC, the specifics of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team’s World Cup journey have been purposefully kept under wraps. However, the governing body acknowledged in April that a special task force had been established to assist Afghanistan’s female athletes by providing possibilities for coaching and mentoring.
Although the numbers have not been made public, the ICC is paying the project with assistance from the three wealthiest boards—the BCCI, ECB, and CA.
At the ICC’s annual session in July, the concept of allowing Afghanistan’s exiled women to attend the World Cup was solidified.
A provisional plan was draughted at the time for the players to watch many World Cup matches, play against Indian domestic teams, and attend a training camp in Bengaluru. The team is still anticipated to play some games for the time being, but it is unclear if they would show up for games beyond the tournament opener.
It is believed that the ICC handled their entry in India in a low-key manner out of fear of possible retaliation from the Afghan government. Women have been silenced in public places, excluded from secondary schools and universities, and forced out of public life since the Taliban took back power in 2021. Therefore, even though the ACB signed 25 players in 2020, they are unable to ratify a women’s squad.
The majority of those cricket players now reside in Australia, but some are stationed in Canada and the United Kingdom. Visa issues have prevented some Australians from visiting India, but several participated in an exhibition match between Cricket Without Borders and an Afghanistan XI earlier this year.
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