It was supposed to be the first series for Qatar against Test-playing nation.
The Qatar vs Afghanistan T20 match, scheduled for November 8 at the West End International Cricket Stadium in Doha, was abruptly delayed, leaving the cricketing fraternity baffled. What was supposed to be a memorable moment for the Qatar cricket team and fans, their first international series against a Test-playing nation, descended into confusion just hours before the opening game.
Barely 90 minutes before the scheduled start, Qatar Cricket Association’s (QCA) official Instagram handle was still posting stories of players from both teams warming up at the venue.
In the lead-up to the series, the QCA had promoted the three-match contest as an official “men’s T20I bilateral series”, with games slated for November 8, 9, and 11, all scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm local time.
A day before the first match, QCA reiterated this via a social media post.
“Both of the Qatari and Afghan national teams are set to play in the Qatar–Afghanistan Bilateral Series 2025, taking place at the West End International Cricket Stadium in Doha,” wrote QCA on their X handle.
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However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) presented a completely different picture. Their post referred to the series as a set of practice matches, featuring Afghanistan’s A side, Afghan Abdalyan, rather than the senior national team.
The ACB wrote on their X handle, “AfghanAbdalyan are all set to take on Qatar in three T20 practice matches as part of their preparations for the upcoming Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025. The series of practice matches will begin tonight in Doha, with the second and third games scheduled for November 9 and 11.”
This conflicting communication between the two boards sparked widespread confusion over the status of the match. ACB’s statement stated that these matches will be practice fixtures, but QCB claimed its international clash led to confusion about whether the proceedings would carry T20I status. Notably, the Rising Stars Asia Cup is set to be held in Doha three days after the conclusion of the Qatar-Afghanistan series.
The match was removed from the ICC’s current list of fixtures despite remaining visible on Qatar Cricket Association’s website, marked as “cancelled.”
The scheduled YouTube match live stream never went live, leading fans to flood the comment section with questions and speculations about the match’s status. A Google notification later confirmed that the fixture had been “cancelled”, aligning with the match status on the ICC’s fixtures page.
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