Cricket and the Taliban

An uplifting novel about sport and life under a strict religious regime

By CHITRA SUDARSHAN

In The Taliban Cricket Club (Allen and Unwin) is a novel by Timeri Murari. It is a love story set in Kabul in the year 2000 during the period of Taliban rule, when the country was known as the United Emirates of Afghanistan. It centres on the life of a young woman, Rukhsana, a journalist using a male pseudonym to describe life under a religious dictatorship. For women in Afghanistan during this time, there was an edict issued by the Taliban that they should only be seen in the home and in the grave. But life for young men also changed radically; there was little opportunity for work and the only schools open were the religious madrassas. Entertainment – from music and movies to wedding celebrations – were banned under

Taliban rule and the only sport permitted was football. But to improve their image, the Taliban made real historical efforts to have Afghanistan accepted as an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council – a true story – a move that was supported by the Taliban at the time. In 2000, the Taliban revised its restrictions on sport in Afghanistan and decided to allow men to participate in cricket. It was an attempt to show the world that they could play fair too. A year later, the Afghan team began competing internationally. Murari spins this historical detail into a bold and uplifting novel about sport and life under the Taliban. In this novel, the Taliban plan to create a cricket team, holding a tournament and flying the winning team to Pakistan to train. Rukhsana seizes the opportunity to help her brother and male cousins escape their dangerous and oppressive country. She played cricket for her university’s female team in Delhi and sets about coaching the men. If they form a cricket team and win, they can leave Afghanistan and never return. Although the plot is a bit far-fetched, the description of life under the Taliban – and cricket in Afghanistan – are brought to live with warmth and humour.

Timeri N Murari is an award-

In 2000, the Taliban revised its restrictions on sport in Afghanistan and decided to allow men to participate in cricket

Although the plot is a bit far-fetched, the description of life under the Taliban – and cricket in Afghanistan – are brought to live with warmth and humour winning writer, filmmaker and playwright who began his career as a journalist at The Kingston Whig Standard in Ontario, Canada. TIME magazine chose his film The Square Circle as one of the top ten of the year. He has published fiction and nonfiction, and his bestselling novel

Taj, a story of Mughal India, was translated into twenty-one languages. In 2006, he published a memoir, My Temporary Son, exploring his relationship with a desperately ill orphan. Murari now lives with his wife in his ancestral home in Madras, India.