Zimbabwe Cricket asks players to return home with immediate effect after Kabul bomb blast

Following a bomb blast outside the Kabul International Stadium on Wednesday, that killed three people and wounded five, Zimbabwe Cricket has asked their players to leave the ongoing Shpageeza Cricket League. [caption id=“attachment_4044047” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Cricket fans leave the Kabul International cricket ground after a suicide bomb attack on 13 September. AFP[/caption] According to a report in The Herald, the board officials have demanded players to return home with immediate effect. The players that are a part of the league are Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbara, Raza Butt, Ryan Burl and Richmond Mutunbami. Wednesday’s match was between Boost Defenders and MIS Ainak Knights. “The blast happened during a match between Amo Sharks and Kabul Eagles in which Hamilton Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami, Solomon Mire and Richard Ngarava played. They were part of nine players that were supposed to ply their trade in the T20 league," Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement. Although no players, match officials were hurt in the attack, Zimbabwe Cricket spokesperson Darlington Majonga told The Herald, “Following today’s (Wednesday) events, Zimbabwe Cricket has ordered that all Zimbabwean players who are in Afghanistan should be put on the first plane out of Kabul so that they return home and we have communicated that with our counterparts in that country.” After the blast, the match was halted for a while. It didn’t resume till the umpires got the security clearance. Incidentally, the tournament was postponed to September due to a bomb blast near the German Embassy in Kabul on May 31.