Reports: Afghanistan vs Pakistan ODI series shifted from Sri Lanka to Pakistan

In what can be called a major development, Afghanistan’s upcoming ODI series against Pakistan has been shifted to Pakistan. The series was initially scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka later this month. However, Pakistan got the hosting rights due to COVID-19 concerns in the island nation. For the unversed, Sri Lanka has witnessed a rise in coronavirus cases lately. Owing to the same, the government imposed a 10-day nationwide lockdown.

Hence, the officials of both boards finally came to an agreement of playing the matches in Pakistan. Notably, it was earlier reported that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wanted to host this series in the first place. However, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) refused the offer due to travel concerns. With Sri Lanka now observing lockdown, darks clouds were looming over the series’ fate.

No flights are available from Afghanistan’s capital Kabul

However, ESPNcricinfo has now reported that the series is set to take place on Pakistan soil. It also has to be noted that no commercial flights are taking off from Kabul following the Taliban takeover of the country. This dented the national team’s plans of flying to the island nation. Hence, they now have to travel Pakistan by road and challenge the hosts.

Although the schedule is yet to be announced, the three-match series gets underway on September 3. With the high-voltage T20 World Cup 2021 taking place in October, this series will indeed be a great chance for both teams to finalize their teams and strategies. Needless to mention, Babar Azam’s Pakistan are favourites to win this series with the home advantage being in their favour.

However, the Men in Green haven’t been sensational lately and it would be interesting to see how they perform against Afghanistan. In July this year, Pakistan suffered a 3-0 whitewash against a second-stringed England side which earned them a lot of criticism. Nevertheless, they now have a chance to bounce back and they must leave no stones unturned to emerge victorious.

On the other hand, Afghanistan cricket team has taken rapid strides in the past few years and taking them lightly won’t be wise for the home team. Hence, one can expect some exciting contest in the upcoming series.