In a recent development, the Afghanistan Cricket Board denied NOCs (No Objection Certificates) to three of its players – Naveen-Ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi for playing T20 franchise leagues in foreign countries. In response, cricket expert Aakash Chopra slammed the Afghan Cricket Board for not doing enough for its cricketers who have entered the scene only after playing in foreign leagues.

As we all know, Aakash Chopra is a very vocal personality who never stops expressing himself. This time he criticized the Afghanistan cricket board for being careless and not helping them develop their skills, which is restricting his development into quality international cricketers.

The nation of Afghanistan is governed under the regime of the Taliban, a militant group that took control of the country in 2021. It has affected its image internationally and millions of people suffer from cruel tyranny.

It has also directly affected Afghanistan’s cricketers as well as the country’s cricket board. Last year, six-time world champions Australia refused to play a home bilateral series against them as part of a disagreement and protest against the country’s government restricting women’s participation in cricket.

The Australian Cricket Board’s decision to refuse to host the Afghan team agitated players like Rashid Khan and Naveen Ul-Haq, among others, who were playing in the Big Bash League at the time. To show their disappointment, both players declared themselves out of the remaining BBL matches.

“If playing in Afghanistan is so uncomfortable for Australia, then I wouldn’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable with my presence in the BBL. Therefore, I will seriously consider my future in that competition,” an angry Rashid Khan tweeted last year.

Ahead of the 2023-24 BBL season, Rashid also retired not because he is still angry with Cricket Australia’s actions but because he suffered a back injury in November. Apart from him, leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the only Afghan player participating in the BBL 2023/24 for the Melbourne Renegades.

But Afghanistan cricket board’s latest decision has definitely surprised everyone as they imposed a 2-year ban on Naveen, Mujeeb and Farooqi from playing in foreign leagues after the trio asked the board to dismiss them from the central contracts.

“Afghanistan cricketers have improved their game because they are T20 self-sufficient,” feels Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra spoke honestly about Afghanistan cricketers improving their own game due to the fact that they are T20 freelancers playing T20 leagues around the world. But the latest development has infuriated Aakash Chopra on the board as he believes that if Afghan players only played at the domestic level, they would not have been able to beat teams like England and Pakistan during the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

He also stated that the board is putting its own interests before those of the country and that they have not played any role in its development and therefore should not stop Naveen, Mujeeb and Farooqi from playing in foreign leagues.

“It looks good when you hear that, but the truth is that when you see how much the Afghanistan Cricket Board has contributed to the development of the players, you say that they became such good players because they are T20 autonomous,” Aakash Chopra said on his Channel from YouTube.

Meanwhile, the participation of the Afghan trio in IPL 2024 is unclear at the moment after the Afghan board banned them for two long years. Naveen Ul Haq has been playing for Lucknow Super Giants, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was picked up by KKR and Fazalhaq Farooqi was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 auction.