The PCB will write to the ICC to “lodge a protest” over the crowd trouble and “gruesome visuals” that followed the Afghanistan-Pakistan game at the Asia Cup.
“This [crowd trouble after an Afghanistan-Pakistan game] didn’t happen for the first time. Wins and losses are a part of the game. It was a gruelling contest, but emotions should have been kept in control. Until the environment is right, you can’t grow and go forward as a cricket-playing nation.
“So we are going to express our anguish and frustration to the ICC. We owe it to our fans, anything could have happened… Our team could have been in danger… So whatever the protocol is we will follow that and lodge our protest.”
Raja is also part of the ICC’s working committee tasked with reviewing the state of cricket and how it is run in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country last year.
Footage captured in the stands also showed fans pulling out bucket seats and flinging them at each other. Cushioned seats were also torn up. Considerable damage had been done by the time the ground authorities and the police swung into action. The organisers quickly ushered the public out of the stadium to prevent any further damage.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board put out two tweets on September 8 calling for people to “work together” to bring the “cricket fraternity closer”, and “somehow try to spread love”. “Cricket is regarded as a phenomenon of harmony and more intimate relations between nations. Let’s work together for bringing the cricket fraternity closer. Cricket does not allow for us to show negative emotions on the field and turn the friendship atmosphere into violence,” one of the tweets read. The other tweet was:
AfghaAtalan have always represented the Afghan Values at its very best and have truly treated cricket as a gentleman’s game. We hope others will also respect the passion and dedication for the game and somehow try to spread love and devotion among nations
AfghanAtalan, Our Pride pic.twitter.com/v9goGNI1tz
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 8, 2022
Earlier on social media, former Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai had called for a ban on Asif for his aggression. “This is stupidity at extreme level by Asif Ali and should be banned from the rest of the tournament, any bowler has the right to celebrate but being physical is not acceptable at all,” Stanikzai had tweeted.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are set to next face each other on October 19, in a warm-up match in Brisbane in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup. The teams are not in the same group in the first stage of the tournament.