It’s official. The World Cup Super League series between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been relocated to Hambantota from the Emirates. The likely dates of ODIs are expected to be on 1st, 3rd & 5th of September although it is not yet announced. Earlier cricket councils of UAE had to disapprove ACB’s offer to host the Pak series because all three of their venues were booked by BCCI to host IPL in September.
ACB announces a young & inexperienced squad for the series against Pakistan
ACB have already announced a 17 member squad for the Pakistan series. The board and the selectors clearly seem to bank on the youths to take charge of proceedings. They have also introduced a new captain in the form of Hashmat in the limited overs format and the tests.
As expected, there are few ripples & concerns about these changes enforced by the cricket board. Improvements will come but that might take a while to realise. It had to begin somewhere & I’m glad that the board has exhibited it’s will & resolve to bring about these substitutes.
Meanwhile we have to be patient with these young bunch of boys. They need time to get acclimatized to international cricket. We cannot expect miracles to happen overnight. These lads are talented & have the perfect age to grasp & absorb the teachings. One has to persist with them for as long as they show promise of an exciting future.
Can ACB reschedule their series against Sri Lanka? Seems like the window is available.
Now that the Sri Lankan board has given its nod to host these games at Hambantota, it has also opened the doors for ACB to renegotiate with the hosts to schedule their own bilateral series in the same stretch which was postponed earlier due to lack of a free window.
Since LPL has been postponed to November, Sri Lanka might be in a position to not only host the Afghan-Pak series but also their own against the visiting Afghanistan. Their earlier itinerary consisted of 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is. Unfortunately the series was postponed due to Sri Lanka’s delayed rescheduled series against India in July.