The Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) have condemned the deaths of three Afghan cricketers reportedly killed in a cross-border strike in Afghanistan’s Paktika province — a tragedy that has led the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) to withdraw from subsequent month’s T20I tri-series in Pakistan.
“The Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) is deeply saddened and appalled by the tragic deaths of three younger and promising Afghan cricketers, Kabeer Agha, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, who misplaced their lives in a current airstrike in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
“The three younger males had returned dwelling after collaborating in a pleasant cricket match once they have been killed in an assault that additionally claimed the lives of a number of civilians. The ICC strongly condemns this act of violence that has robbed households, communities, and the cricketing world of three vivid abilities whose solely ambition was to play the game they liked.”
The BCCI echoed the ICC’s stance, saying: “The BCCI stands in solidarity with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), the cricket fraternity, and the households of the departed gamers throughout this second of profound grief and condemns this ghastly and unwarranted assault. The lack of harmless lives, significantly these of promising sportspersons, is deeply distressing and a matter of nice concern. The BCCI conveys its heartfelt sympathies to the folks of Afghanistan and shares of their ache and loss.”
The ACB, which introduced its withdrawal earlier this week, stated the choice was made “as a gesture of respect to the victims” following what it described as a “tragic” assault within the Urgun district. In its preliminary assertion, the board stated that “a number of lives had been misplaced within the assault, together with three native cricketers who had been returning dwelling after enjoying a pleasant match in Sharana, the capital of Paktika province.” The ACB known as it “an important loss for Afghanistan’s sports activities group, its athletes, and the cricketing household.”
Pakistan’s authorities, nevertheless, strongly rejected the declare that the gamers had been killed in an “airstrike.” Within the nation’s first official response, Info Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X: “Pakistan, a first-rate sufferer of cross-border terrorism, rejects the ICC’s selective, biased and untimely remark that advances a disputed allegation, as established, that three ‘Afghan cricketers’ died in an ‘airstrike’. The ICC has cited no impartial verification to substantiate these claims. Pakistan strongly rejects the characterization and contests the ICC’s declare and name for instant correction.”
In a follow-up assertion, the ACB expressed “honest gratitude” to the ICC for its assist, whereas reiterating its personal stance: “The ACB has constantly upheld the precept of maintaining sports activities separate from politics and has maintained this stance inside the framework of the ICC. The Afghanistan Cricket Board as soon as once more strongly condemns this act of violence. Whereas deeply appreciating the ICC’s expression of solidarity, the ACB urges the implementation of agency and decisive measures towards these chargeable for this inhumane assault.”
The T20I tri-series, that includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, was scheduled to happen from November 17 to 29 in Rawalpindi and Lahore. Zimbabwe is now set to exchange Afghanistan.
The collection would have been the second multi-team engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan this 12 months, following their August-September tri-series forward of the Asia Cup. Nevertheless, it was additionally to mark Afghanistan’s first participation in a Pakistan-hosted occasion amid steadily worsening diplomatic ties between the 2 nations.
Printed on Oct 19, 2025