Babar Azam
The Pakistan Cricket Board is confident that the political upheaval in Afghanistan will not affect their ODI series and, in fact, the Taliban authorities have given green light to the national team to play the matches in Sri Lanka as scheduled.
A well-informed source in the PCB said that they had got positive signals from their counterparts in Afghanistan about the series. "The series appears to be on and the indications we have got is that the Taliban authorities have given green light for the series," he said.
"We are going ahead with our plans and we will announce our squad as soon as the second test against the West Indies ends on 24th August," he added.
The Afghanistan players have started training in Kabul while the PCB also announced that a training camp would be set up in Lahore from August 21 to 28 for the series with the Pakistan squad scheduled to leave on 29th for Sri Lanka.
It is believed that for the new regime in Afghanistan there was no better way to send out a message to the international community about their soft image than allowing the series to go ahead.
"They will have the series as it gives them a good opportunity to show the western world that they are different from when they previously ruled Afghanistan," said an analyst.
Most of the leading Afghan players including Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rehman and some others are already in England taking part in the 'Hundred' tournament.
The Afghanistan Board will hosting the three match series --- the first bilateral contest between the two national teams -- from September 1 to 5 in Hambantota.
The series is part of the ICC's qualifying league for the 2023 World Cup in India.
