The noble game of cricket could offer Afghanistan a respite from the threat of attack from the United States after Pakistan gave the war-torn country permission to take part in a tournament it is hosting.
“They had made a request to us that they wanted to take part in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and we accepted it,” a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board of Control, Brigadier Munawwar Rana, told Reuters.
“Since they have confirmed their participation, we have included them,” said Rana. “But whether they are able to take part in the competition physically, I think, depends entirely on the circumstances.”
The tournament will be played next month.
Afghanistan is facing a possible military strike from the United States and allies for refusing to hand over Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11.
Club teams in Pakistan have played numerous games against Afghan sides in the past, and have also lobbied to get Afghanistan affiliate membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) this year.
The game first took root in the mid-1880s as the British colonial influences in India leaked across the border.
It has never, however, rivalled the popularity of the national sport, buzkashi, in which teams of horseman vie for possession of a headless goat carcass, tearing it apart in the process. To the casual observer, it appears to have few rules.