Af-Pak ODI series venue shifted to Pakistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan-Pakistan One-Day International (ODI) series has been moved from Sri Lanka to Pakistan.

The venue was shifted due to logistical challenges to the national team’s travel to Sri Lanka, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive officer.

Hamid Shinwari confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that commercial flights were not taking off from Kabul following the Taliban takeover of the country.

Additionally, Sri Lanka announced a 10-day lockdown on Friday, two days after the country reported 3793 new Covid-19 cases.

Originally, the Afghan squad was scheduled to travel to Pakistan by road before flying via Dubai to Colombo for the three-match series.

However, the ACB CEO added, the tortuous route was throwing up logistical challenges because of the Covid-19 protocols.

Now the Afghan cricketers will travel to Pakistan later this week. The ACB is yet to announce the venue(s) for the series, beginning from September 3.

Four senior Pakistani players — Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali – may be rested for the series.

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