The incredible story of Afghanistan’s exiled women’s cricket team

For them, cricket is not just a game. It is a way of showing that women can make their own choices, rather than meekly obeying the rules laid down by unelected bigots with beards.

An Afghan woman poses for a photo with her cricket bat in Kabul in 2022. AP

The Economist

Dec 27, 2024 – 2.32pm

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It was a warm night in Kabul. Just days earlier, on August 15, 2021, the Taliban had seized control of the Afghan capital, and with it, the country. At around 4am, Feroza Afghan, then a 17-year-old girl, crept through the silent streets, dodging Taliban soldiers. In all, it took her and her family three months to escape from Afghanistan, via nine hotels and 18 Taliban checkpoints.

“If they found us, they would kill us,” Ms Afghan recalls.

The Economist