Pakistan-Afghanistan ODI series likely to be cancellled as Sri Lanka imposes lockdown

KARACHI: The chances of the Pakistan-Afghanistan one-day international (ODI) series scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka turned bleak after the host country imposed a 10-day nationwide lockdown, however, the final decision in this regard is expected on Sunday (today).

According to a report published in Geo News, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier offered the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) to play the series in Pakistan but the ACB rejected the proposal.

The officials of the ACB were of the view that the ODI series should be played on a neutral venue. According to ACB’s plan, their players would arrive in Pakistan by road and from there they would fly to Sri Lanka via Dubai.

Earlier, a PCB spokesperson had said the ODI series between the two neighbouring countries was scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka from September 3 to 9.

The spokesperson had said the board planned to start the training camp for the series from August 21 to 28, but since the Afghan board has failed to do its job so far, PCB plans to hold on to the squad announcement and training camp.

"We do not want to incur additional expenses," he had added. 

ODI series would not be affected by change of govt:  ACB CEO 

Earlier, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on August 18 had said that the three-match ODI series against Pakistan would be played as per schedule, The News reported.

In a statement, Afghanistan’s cricket board had said that the ODI series against Pakistan would not be affected by the change of government in the country.

“Taliban love cricket and they are supporting their team. Our ODI series against Pakistan will go as per schedule in Sri Lanka. After two days’ gap due to the current situation in the country, the training camp of the national team will resume tomorrow,” ACB CEO Hamid Shinwari had said.