Qatar flies Afghanistan cricket team to Doha for training

T20 World Cup: Afghanistan cricket team arrives in Qatar (Twitter Photo)

Afghanistan national cricket team on Wednesday arrived in Doha to participate in the ICC T20 World Cup which will be played in the UAE and Oman from October 17.

Afghanistan qualified directly for the finals of the T20 World Cup 2021 and is placed in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan and New Zealand. They will be joined by two more teams from the qualifiers that will begin on October 17.

Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Alkhater wrote on Twitter the team traveled at the request of the Taliban government, so they could take part in a training camp ahead of an "upcoming championship". The team is due this month to take part in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Alkhater said there were also citizens from Japan, Belgium, Ireland, Britain, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden and Canada on board, among other countries, and Afghan journalists. It was the sixth chartered Qatari flight out of Kabul - and carried the most passengers - since U.S. forces withdrew in August.

A video posted on Twitter by Alkhater showed a Qatar Airways plane taking off from Kabul airport. Qatar, a close U.S. ally, is a key interlocutor between the West and the Taliban.

Source: India Today