LEEDS: Deteriorating political ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan spilled over on to the cricket field on Saturday with political sloganeering, clashes between groups of fans and off-field animosity between officials and ex-players marring their World Cup match in Headingley.
In the morning when Afghanistan were batting, a plane flew over the stadium carrying banners with political messages that read, 'Help end disappearances in Pakistan' and 'Freedom for Balochistan'. A van displaying similar messages against Pakistan was also parked outside the players' gate at the stadium. Around the same time, ugly scenes played out in the stands as groups of Pakistani and Afghan fans needled each other with chants before clashing violently, necessitating their emergency evacuation by the security staff. Once outside, the groups clashed again. Some Afghans turned up in their country's army uniform and fought physically with local Pakistanis, throwing bottles and even attacking a few Pakistani journalists. The local police, it is learnt, have made a few arrests.
Talking about the banners being flown overhead, an ICC source said, "We work with local police forces to prevent this type of incident and were assured that Headingly is under the flight path of the Leeds Bradford Airport and it would not be an issue. We do not condone any sort of political messages and will work with West Yorkshire police to ensure it does not happen again."
The ICC had earlier prevented MS Dhoni from displaying a military symbol on his wicket-keeping gloves during matches. Regarding the scuffles outside the stadium, an ICC spokesperson said: "We are aware of some scuffles among a minority of fans and are currently working with the venue security team and local police to ensure there are no further incidents. We do not condone this type of behaviour."
Before the match, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) interim CEO Asadullah Khan needled Pakistan by reportedly saying, "We're currently far better than Pakistan in cricket, and they should ask us for technical, coaching and more support for the betterment of their cricket."
Reacting to Khan's comment, former Pakistan pace bowling star Shoaib Akhtar lashed out in his pre-match video, claiming most Afghanistan players were from Peshawar anyway. "You will have to bear with me but I will say something controversial. If you ask the Afghan players to show their original ID cards, they all will be from Peshawar and for this reason their entire team can be banned by the ICC," was Akhtar's response.
"I am requesting the CEO of Afghanistan to think twice before launching some statement in the media against Pakistan because if your original IDs are out, then everyone will see that most of you are from Peshawar or from Karachi. We love the people of Afghanistan, we love peace and wanted to help you out. We gave refuge to three million Afghanis," he added.
During his pre-match press conference on Friday, Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib hoped cricket would lessen the political tensions between the two nations. "If you look at our cricket, we learned a lot of cricket in Pakistan and we also played cricket in Pakistan. We are also hoping cricket is one thing that can keep a good relationship for anyone, any other country." Cricket became a popular sport in Afghanistan post the Soviet invasion, as young Afghans learnt to play cricket in refugee camps on the border. Leg spinner Rashid Khan and allrounder Mohd Nabi started playing cricket in Peshawar, while PCB helped in developing cricket in Afghanistan by providing infrastructure.