The three-match ODIs series between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been shifted to Pakistan from Sri Lanka’s Hambantota, where it was supposed to be hosted. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) was forced to shift the series due to the fact the no commercial flights are taking off from Kabul at the moment. The Taliban takeover and the subsequent cancellation of the flight does not seem to be the only hurdle for the Afghan board. The Covid-19 situation in Sri Lanka has dramatically developed over the past few days, with the country reporting its highest death toll (187) in a single day on August 21, Saturday - an issue that has forced the hand of the government into announcing a 10-day lockdown.
ESPNCricinfo quoted ACB CEO Hamid Shinwari as confirming the developments.
Initially, the series was to be played in UAE, but due to the announcement of the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman and prevailing travel bans, the ACB shifted the series to Sri Lanka even as PCB offered to host the series. The Sri Lanka plan had to be aborted as the Afghanistan team was supposed to travel to Pakistan by road, then fly to Dubai, and then on to Colombo for the series.
However, since travelling to Sri Lanka would now mean heavy quarantines and the route has got circuitous, the ACB decided to hold the series in Pakistan itself. The Afghan squad is scheduled to travel to Pakistan via road later this week. This will be the first bilateral series between the two teams. And this would still remain a home series for Afghanistan.
Although Pakistan have not announced the squad for the series, it is being assumed that all format players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali would be rested so that they remain fresh for the New Zealand and England series as well as the T20 World Cup in September October and November respectively.