A brilliant young Afghan cricketer whose father was presumably killed by the Taliban because of his family’s support for women’s sport has found a safe, yet temporary, haven in Sydney with the Western Suburbs District Cricket Club.
Farhan Zakhail, who turns 20 next month, is an all-rounder who played first class cricket in Afghanistan at age 14 and captained his national Under-19 World Cup team. He is the nephew of former Afghanistan Test player Javed Ahmadi who, along with his pregnant wife and four children, was airlifted to Sydney in October 2021 following the fall of Kabul.
Javed and his family were granted refugee status by the Morrison Government and Farhan is now seeking residency, having arrived in Sydney in September last year on a 408 Visa.
Their families fled Afghanistan for Pakistan after becoming targets of the Taliban because they coached and supported women’s cricket.