As Feroza Afghan watched the Afghanistan men’s team secure an unprecedented four victories in the 2023 World Cup, her jubilation was tinged with sadness at what she has lost.
“I am so happy for them because they have made history,” she says. “They have had a couple of amazing wins and they have done amazing. I just wish, when I see them and I watch them play, I wish it’s also happening for the women’s team as well.
“Every time I watch their matches I think of our women’s team. That one day we also can play for Afghanistan in a World Cup.”
Feroza was one of the 25 female players awarded central contracts by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in November 2020. Less than a year later, when the Taliban swept back into power, that contract made her and her family a target for the new regime. When her home city of Herat was retaken, Feroza fled first to Kabul and then crossed into Pakistan with her mother, aunt and four siblings after the Taliban followed them to the hotel they were staying in.
“We went to Pakistan and waited nine months there because my family doesn’t have passports,” Feroza says. “It was not too good [in Pakistan], it’s a bad situation for all Afghans. Some people left the country to go to Pakistan and other neighbours because they want their daughters and their children to have an education. Now it’s too bad a situation that the Pakistan government doesn’t allow the Afghan families to stay in Pakistan.”
Up to 800,000 refugees from Afghanistan are estimated to have sought refuge in Pakistan since August 2021. But in the last month, the Pakistan government has started a process of deporting undocumented refugees from Afghanistan back into Taliban-controlled territory. It’s been reported that up to 170,000 people have had to leave the country. The situation they are returning to is desperate.
According to the United Nations, more than half of Afghanistan’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance, and as much as 97 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line. In October, a series of powerful earthquakes killed over 2,000 people in Herat province, destroying huge amounts of infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, the Afghanistan men’s team reached new heights on the field in India. Their win over England in Delhi marked the start of an incredible run which saw them challenge for a place in the semi-finals. After that first win, Rashid Khan told Star Sports of the impact the team’s success could have on those facing such hardships back home.
“I think cricket is the only source which gives them lots of happiness and lots of good memories and people back home just wait,” he said. “This victory will give them a little bit of a smile on their faces and they could little bit forget those tough days.”
Despite external questions over whether the Afghanistan men’s team should be allowed to continue as an ICC full member, or whether they should be excluded from the international cricket community altogether, Feroza’s stance, and that of many other members of the Afghanistan women’s team, is clear.
“We don’t want the men’s team banned so they can’t play,” says Feroza. “But we have our right to play because we are also players. They want to play for Afghanistan and represent the Afghanistan people, we also want that. We just need their support and we need them to talk about us and our rights. We don’t want anyone not to play.”
The players continue to hope that support from the men’s team will help their case with the ICC and further their ambitions to play for Afghanistan in exile. However, faced with a complex and potentially dangerous situation, to this point those hopes have been unanswered.
“We didn’t receive any support from them [the men’s team],” says Feroza. “And they didn’t want to talk about us, that makes us feel bad. I think the situation is that some of them play and live in Afghanistan and they are scared of the Taliban government.”
Since arriving in Australia last year, Feroza has built a new life for herself in Melbourne. When she’s not working, she plays cricket for several different teams as well as following the WBBL. As a fellow fast bowler, her hero is Mitchell Starc, although she admits her all-time favourite is Virat Kohli.
“Some of my [Afghanistan] teammates play for different clubs,” she says. “I also play for different clubs, but on Tuesdays, we play together. It’s not the Afghanistan team but I and some of my teammates play together in one team. My biggest dream is to represent Afghanistan and have my team. I’m still hopeful of that.
“We were born in war, and we grew up in war, and we have a bad situation in Afghanistan. But we just want to show the world and the other women that Afghanistan women are strong and how they are amazing.”
