The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Saturday announced its withdrawal from the upcoming T20 tri-nation series involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka, citing the deaths of three Afghan domestic players in alleged Pakistani airstrikes in Paktika province.
In a strongly worded statement, the ACB condemned the incident, calling it “a cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime.” The board said it could not, in good conscience, participate in a tournament hosted by Pakistan following such an “inhumane act.”
Despite Afghanistan’s exit, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to proceed with the event as scheduled. The PCB, led by chairman Mohsin Naqvi, is now exploring options to bring in a replacement team to join Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the triangular series, which is set to be played from November 17 to 29 in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited controversy by once again claiming credit for “solving” several global conflicts and suggesting that resolving the Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions could be his next accomplishment.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, “Although I do understand that Pakistan attacked, or there is an attack going on with Afghanistan. That’s an easy one for me to solve if I have to solve it. In the meantime, I have to run the USA, but I love solving wars.”
Pakistan launched fresh air strikes targeting terrorist hideouts inside Afghanistan hours after both countries extended a fragile two-day ceasefire. The strikes followed a deadly gun-and-bomb assault on a military installation in North Waziristan, reported The Dawn.
