Only twelve countries are allowed to play cricket at the highest level. Cricket powerhouses such as England, Australia, India, and Pakistan all have “test status,” which means they are recognized by the International Cricket Council as being able to play international test matches, which can last up to five days and are considered the purest form of the game. The country to attain test status most recently is Afghanistan.
War-torn and impoverished Afghanistan is rarely present on any elite list, but its achieving test status in 2017 was a major national accomplishment. The Afghan national team has played in seven test matches so far, winning three and losing four. The Taliban’s retaking control of the country after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 makes it much harder to schedule international matches. No other team wants to travel to Afghanistan, so the Afghan team has played “home” matches in India, Sri Lanka, and the U.A.E. The team still plays under the pre-Taliban Afghan flag, and a Taliban leader has warned cricketers against being “un-Islamic.”
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