We emailed ICC but got no response, reveals Afghanistan woman cricketer who left Kabul post Taliban's entry

Afghanistan woman cricketer Roya Samim flew to Canada along with her two sisters in the wake of the unrest back home post Taliban's entry. Ever since the Taliban terror group took over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan has been going through a severe unrest and there is a feeling of helplessness among the citizens.

While Roya left her country two days before Taliban entered Kabul, she vented out her frustration and disappointment in leaving her homeland and settling elsewhere. Speaking to The Guardian, she said, "Leaving Afghanistan, it was a sad day for me. I just cried. I really love everything that I had: my job, my cricket, my teammates, my home town, my relatives. Everything that I have, I leave behind. Even now when I remember this day I will cry. The Taliban are against girls studying, so how do they want a girl’s cricket team?"

To her knowledge, Roya feels only her sisters and she has managed to leave the troubled country in the right time. Thus, Roya remains extremely concerned about her teammates and told, "My other teammates who stay in Afghanistan are afraid, they stay in their houses. They are sad, they ask people to please help us. Emotionally and physically, they are not good."

What hurt Roya was no response that she got from the International Cricket Council (ICC). In this regard, she pointed out, "We all emailed the ICC but got no response from them,” says Samim. “Why do they not respond to us, why do they not consider us, even treat us that we don’t exist in the world? After the Taliban came into Kabul, we requested that [the ICC] please save all the girls, we are worried for our teammates. The Afghan Cricket Board [ACB] also said nothing, they said just: ‘Wait.’"

Given the grim situation in Afghanistan, many are living in uncertain times in their own country.

For the unversed, Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, however, made heads turn with his recent remark supporting the Taliban terror group, saying they've entered Taliban with a 'positive intent'. Afridi's statement comes at a time after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed at least 170 people, including 13 US security personnel. Hence, he received criticism from several quarters for his glaring statement.