Pakistan Cricket Board defers national training camp due to situation in Afghanistan

PCB has deferred the national camp in Lahore, due to the domestic situation in Afghanistan and the uncertainty of whether the team’s series against Afghanistan will indeed go on or not.

The Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) has put its training camp, which was supposed to start on Saturday in Lahore, on hold. The announcement of the squad for the One Day series against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka, which will take place next month, has also been delayed. This is due to the turbulent domestic situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban have taken over the reins of the country and the country is facing turmoil, unseen for two decades.

Due to this situation, the PCB wants more clarity regarding whether the series will happen or not and whether the squad will be announced or not from the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

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An official from the Board, told the media, that the ACB has yet to confirm whether their players will travel from Kabul for Colombo and have added that they, also, have to confirm the schedule of the matches. The official added that if the ACB confirms the travel plans and the itinerary of the series, then the PCB will also, in accordance with that, set up their national camp.

The ACB is in talks with the authorities from the Taliban and the United States Army who are controlling flights, in and out of the country. A senior cricket official in the ACB has said, to the media, that they will soon get permission and also how and when they will fly from Kabul to Colombo.

For this series, Pakistan is expected to rest the likes of Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan and bowlers Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, as they are needed for the home series against New Zealand and England plus the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE. Pakistan vs Afghanistan One Dayers is expected to begin on the 3rd of September. Afghanistan is also participating in the T20 World Cup.