INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghanistan captain, dedicated his side&s seven-wicket win over Netherlands to the thousands of Afghan refugees in
Pakistan who are facing the prospect of being deported back to Afghanistan.Shahidi was speaking after a comfortable win in Lucknow,
Afghanistan&s third in a row and one which sees them move to eight points and closer to a semi-final spot, albeit with two games left to
play against Australia and South Africa, ESPNcricinfo reported.&Right now, a lot of refugee peoples are in struggle so we are watching their
videos and we are sad for that and we are with them in this tough time,& Shahidi said after the game
&I dedicate this win to those refugees that are in pain and also to all country peoples back home.&Nearly two million Afghan refugees that
Pakistan says are in the country illegally had been told by the government to leave by November 1 or face either deportation or
arrest. Pakistan has a long history of taking in Afghan refugees, dating back to 1979 when the former Soviet Union came into Afghanistan in
a new front of the Cold War with the US.The issue has been close to the hearts of the cricket team
Following their eight-wicket triumph over Pakistan in Chennai last week, Ibrahim Zadran also dedicated the win to refugees being forced to
leave.&I think the players are attuned with everything that&s going on back home, whether it&s an earthquake and other things,& Jonathan
Trott, Afghanistan&s coach, said on Friday after the Netherlands win.&So they realise, and I think they&re enjoying the joy that they&re
giving to the Afghan people and the smile that they currently have on their face in the changing room, but also the smiles that&s giving
That&s the great thing about sport and being able to touch people far further afield than just here in the stadium or in this country, but
back home as well.&Afghanistan are now fifth on the points table, outside the top four on net run-rate but with the same points as New
They take on an in-form Australia in Mumbai first, on Tuesday, and then a rampaging South Africa in Ahmedabad, among their toughest tests.&I
think you&ve got to definitely prepare and have a look at how the opposition are going to play, but the thing is with us, I certainly feel
that if we worry, we just focus on how we play and what makes us the side that we are,& Trott said.&We&ve got to make sure that we don&t
look at the opposition too much and forget about what we&ve got to do well
So that&ll be it and obviously we&ll prepare for Australia, a very good side along with South Africa but right now we&re focused on
Australia and what we can do to beat them.& The post Shahidi dedicates Afghanistan win to refugees in Pakistan first appeared on Ariana
