LAHORE: Though rapid political changes taking place in Afghanistan where Taliban took control of the country’s capital on Sunday has raised doubts over the forthcoming three-match One-day International series between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday decided to start the preparations by organising the national training camp in Lahore from Aug 21 to 28.

The said series is scheduled to be staged from Sept 1 to 5.

The Babar Azam-led Pakistan team, currently playing a two-Test series in the West Indies, may not join the said camp as the second Test in Kingston will be played from Friday.

The PCB still awaits a final confirmation about the tour from its Afghanistan counterpart, which must be assessing the latest developments happening in the country with the Taliban-led government about to take charge. Due to the poor law and order situation in Afghanistan for decades, the country has not been able to host any series at home.

The Pakistan-Afghan­istan series, which is is part of the 2020-23 ICC World Cup Super League, was originally scheduled to be held in the UAE but after the shifting of the Indian Premier League from India to the UAE due to surge in Covid-19 cases across India, the series was shifted to Sri Lanka.

Earlier in a statement on Tuesday, chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) Hamid Shinwari said the ODI series against Pakistan would not be affected by the recent political change in the war-torn country.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2021