Lahore bomb blasts: Afghanistan tour of Pakistan called off

PCB postpones series indefinitely; will reschedule when security situation improves

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) proposed three-match ODI series at home with Afghanistan has been postponed indefinitely due to fresh security concerns in the wake of the bombing in Lahore on Sunday.

The two boards — PCB and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) — had already negotiated their terms and were waiting for clearances from the Punjab and Sindh governments to confirm Lahore and Karachi as the venues for the matches.



Last year when Zimbabwe visited Pakistan, the entire series was staged at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore but the PCB was keen to schedule some matches in Karachi as well.

There were two proposals on the table for Afghanistan; either play two four-day matches and three ODIs, or play just three ODIs.

“The proposed series with Afghanistan has been postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of the Lahore blast,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “The board was waiting for security clearances [from the Sindh and Punjab governments], but looking at the unfortunate incident in Lahore a few days ago, we were forced to cancel the tour. Once the security situation improves, then we’ll see if this series can take place.”



Afghanistan recently beat the West Indies in their Super 10 Group 1 match in the World T20 and have impressed with their recent performances, leading to calls from the cricketing community to give them more playing time against Test-playing nations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st,  2016.

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