Afghans mark cricket win quietly at home, with music abroad

By RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghans have celebrated their national cricket team’s landmark victory over Pakistan, although fan festivities were more muted back home because of the ruling Taliban restrictions on music. On Sunday, Afghanistan won its first series against neighboring Pakistan, a top-six ranked International Cricket Council team, for the first time since the war-torn country’s world cricket debut in 2009. It beat Pakistan to take a 2-0 lead in a three-match series in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. The Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a tweet Monday that the team put on an “incredible show” to clinch a historic series win. Some social media posts showed Afghans dancing a national dance without music on the streets of their capital, Kabul.