Usman Khawaja has thrown his support behind Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan after he questioned Cricket Australia’s ongoing boycott of bilateral series with the nation due to the ruling Taliban government’s treatment of its female citizens.
Rashid has been an outspoken critic of Australia’s stance, calling it hypocrtical, and he again questioned the mix of sport and politics following his team’s surprise win over Mitchell Marsh’s team in the T20 World Cup Super 8s stage.
Australia were due to tour the subcontinent earlier this year to play Afghanistan and cancelled what would have been an historic Test in Hobart against them in 2021 soon after the Taliban reclaimed power.
Khawaja posted a message of support on social media to Rashid after their 21-run triumph in Kingstown, St Vincent.
“Well done Brother. Better team on the day. You boys are an inspiration for so many back home and abroad. So sad we can’t see you all play in Australia.”
Khawaja also told The Age at an Amazon Prime Video Twenty20 World Cup event in Melbourne on Monday that he believes Australia should end its refusal to playing Afghanistan outside of ICC tournaments.
“I personally think yes we should be playing Afghanistan,” he told The Age.
“I am sympathetic to both sides of the puzzle. I totally respect and agree with a lot of aspects of the stance Cricket Australia has in terms of women’s cricket in Afghanistan, but there’s also another side to it, of promoting and growing the game.
“This is the second time Australia have backed out of a bilateral series, and I talked to Rashid Khan. He was really disappointed, more so because the Afghanistan people love cricket, and for them cricket is one of the few things they enjoy and brings happiness, and the fact they were going to play Australia was going to be huge, and they don’t get to see that now.
“So it actually hurts the people, and the people are separate from the government.
“When you look at it in that respect, you hurt people. And also the players have stood up for the exact same cause as CA has. Rashid has shown me his tweets, and that’s tough to do playing for Afghanistan. So then he said all you’re doing is depriving us players, too. We want to play the best team in the world and we can’t.”
CA issued a statement after the cancellation of its planned tour in March to say: “The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.”
Khawaja has been at odds with the ICC over his protests during the Australian Test summer when he was sanctioned for wearing a black armband in a match against Pakistan in support of people in Gaza following the conflict with Israel.
He also wrote “freedom is a human right” and “all lives are equal” on his shoes at training.
“The ICC have told me that I can’t wear my shoes on field, because they believe it’s a political statement under their guidelines. I don’t believe it is,” he said at the time.
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