When the Taliban arrived, I requested assistance from the ICC, but nothing happened: Roya Samim is an Afghan cricketer

Cricketer Roya Samim said she is still waiting for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reply to how things stand for her and her colleagues’ cricketing future in Afghanistan, which has been rocked by the Taliban’s takeover.

‘My other teammates who are still in Afghanistan are terrified. They stay in their houses,’ Samim told The Guardian, concerned about the fate of their comrades who have been left behind.

‘We all emailed the ICC, but they didn’t respond,’ Samim claimed, adding that the Afghan Cricket Board (ACB) was silent as well. Why don’t they respond to us? Why don’t they think about us? Why do they treat us as if we don’t exist in the world? ’ We urged the ICC to spare all the females once the Taliban entered Kabul; we were concerned about our comrades. The Afghan Cricket Board [ACB] likewise remained silent, only saying, ‘Wait.’

The ICC, on the other hand, has denied receiving any email.

Samim is currently residing in Canada as a refugee with her two sisters, both of whom play cricket for the Afghan women’s team.

‘It was a sad day for me when I had to leave Afghanistan.’ ‘I simply sobbed,’ she admitted. ‘I adored everything about my life: my job, cricket, teammates, hometown, and relatives. I’m leaving behind everything I own. Even now, when I think of that day, I cry, ’Samim told The Guardian.

Samim is concerned about a rerun of the Taliban reign of 2001, when women were not permitted to leave the house unless they were wearing a burqa and were accompanied by a male relative. ‘The Taliban are against girls studying, so why would they want a girls’ cricket team?’ says the cricketer, despite the fact that the Taliban have not made a definitive statement about the future of female participation in sport.