The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB)’s spokesperson, Sayed Naseem Sadaat, revealed that the board has possessed obvious evidence, including the video footage, implicating the national team in an attack that killed the three local cricketers in Afghanistan’s Urgun district, as the incident has prompted the subcontinent side to withdraw from next month’s tri-nation T20I series.
The statement has come after the government of Pakistan denied the reports of those cricketers being killed in an airstrike. The spokesperson has confirmed that the board has officially decided to withdraw from the upcoming tri-series, hosted by , as Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) replaced them.
‘We got evidence that all the cricket fraternity and all the people around the world would have definitely watched our video report on the incident that was made by our media team. So we got the clear evidence that a Pakistani state did the attack.’ Sadaat expressed during an interaction with ANI.
Watch: Pakistan’s role in killing three Afghanistan cricketers leaked in video footage to go viral
In a post, the Afghanistan Cricket Board reported that the attack had caused multiple casualties, including the three local cricketers- Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon- who were coming back home after playing a friendly game in Paktika province. The board considered it a great loss for Afghanistan’s sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family.
‘We call upon all the cricket boards to condemn such barbaric attacks because cricket is a game that carries the message of peace. Cricketers are peace ambassadors, and they should stay away from the war. War should not be interfered with in sports. So we call upon all the cricket fraternity and boards to condemn such attacks and keep cricket away from war.’ Sadaat addressed the same discussion.
Zimbabwe has since stepped in to replace Afghanistan in the tri-series, joining Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The series will begin on November 17 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with the home side facing Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka at the same venue. The remaining five games and the final will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.