COLOMBO: As officials scramble to find out whether Afghanistan’s cricketers are safe, Sri Lanka’s national board said Monday it is going ahead with arrangements to host a T20 series between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
No official was able to guarantee however that the three Twenty20 matches would start on September 1 after the Taliban swept to power.
The team are also scheduled to play in the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October which could also now be in doubt.
The Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001 frowned upon organized sport.
Star spin bowler and T20 captain Rashid Khan and all rounder Mohammad Nabi are currently playing The Hundred tournament in England. Both made pleas for peace in their country before the Taliban takeover.
But most other national players are in Afghanistan.
“Efforts are being made to check their whereabouts,” said an international cricket official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Sri Lanka’s cricket board said it was still hoping to host Afghanistan and Pakistan for the three matches in an empty stadium at Hambantota.
The series was originally to be held in Dubai but was shifted to Sri Lanka because it clashed with the Indian Premier League which also starts in September in the UAE.
“We have told them that we are ready to host the tournament,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Mohan de Silva told AFP. “All the preparations are underway.”
“But, given the current situation in Kabul, we don’t know if they will be able to go ahead. We are awaiting a response from them.”
De Silva said that because of coronavirus precautions, the two teams should be in Sri Lanka by next week to begin the matches in September.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board website said its national squad met top officials on August 7 and were told that they would be “rewarded handsomely” for a good performance against Pakistan.
In its latest post dated August 9, the board said it had appointed former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait as the national team bowling coach.
Doubts over Afghan-Pakistan cricket series after Taliban takeover
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Doubts over Afghan-Pakistan cricket series after Taliban takeover
- Sri Lanka’s national board says going ahead with arrangements to host T20 series between Afghanistan and Pakistan
- No official able to guarantee that the three Twenty20 matches would start on September 1 after the Taliban swept to power
Pakistan says on ‘strong path’ toward polio eradication after last vaccination drive of 2025
- Pakistani health volunteers vaccinated over 44.6 million children from Dec. 15-21 campaign
- Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases this year and has not reported a single one since September
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Tuesday that the nation was on a “strong path” toward polio eradication, after authorities conducted the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive of the year a few days earlier.
Pakistani health authorities conducted the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination of 2025 from Dec. 15-21. The NEOC earlier this week said it had vaccinated a total of 44.6 million children under the age of five during the seven-day campaign across the country.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where transmission of the wild poliovirus has never been interrupted, posing a risk to global eradication efforts. The virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis, has no cure and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination.
“The NEOC reaffirms that Pakistan is on a strong path toward polio eradication,” the authority said in a statement.
It noted that health volunteers vaccinated over 22.8 million children in Punjab, over 1 million in Sindh, over 7.1 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and over 2.5 million children in Balochistan during the campaign.
In Islamabad, over 450,000 children were vaccinated while in Gilgit-Baltistan, over 274,000 children and in Azad Kashmir over 714,000 were given polio drops.
The NEOC said Pakistan’s polio cases declined from 74 in 2024 to 30 in 2025, reflecting measurable progress compared to the previous year.
“No polio cases have been reported since September 2025, highlighting the remarkable progress achieved through consistent and comprehensive immunization efforts across the country,” it said.
Health officials say insecurity remains a major obstacle. Polio workers and their security escorts have repeatedly been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in parts of KP and Balochistan, complicating efforts to reach every child.
A gun attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district on Dec. 16 left one police constable and a civilian dead.
Natural disasters, including flooding, have also disrupted vaccination campaigns in recent years.
“The NEOC calls upon all stakeholders, including parents, community leaders and health workers, to continue their active support,” the center said.
