ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has issued visas to the Afghan cricket team ahead of the One Day International (ODI) series in Sri Lanka next month, Pakistan’s Information Minister Chaudhary Fawad Hussain said on Monday.
It follows the suspension of commercial flights to and from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the Afghan capital, Kabul, on August 15.
The Afghan cricket team will travel to Pakistan by road before flying out to Sri Lanka, where it is scheduled to play three ODI matches against Pakistan on September 3.
“Pakistan has issued visas to the Afghan cricket team; we hope and pray that the Afghan cricket team will bring smiles on the faces of its people,” Hussain said in a Twitter post.
پاکستان نے افغانستان کی کرکٹ ٹیم کو ویزہ جاری کر دیا ہے، ہم امید اور دعا کرتے ہیں کہ افغان کرکٹ ٹیم اپنے عوام کی چہروں پر مسکراہٹیں لائے گی...... “زما دا اخلاص نہ ڈکے نیکے حیلے اؤ دعاگانے تاسو سرا دی۔” #AfganistanCricketTeam
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 22, 2021
According to media reports, after the UAE’s plans to host the ODI fell through, Pakistan’s Cricket Board offered to conduct the series in the country.
However, the Afghan Cricket Board declined the offer, opting to play in Sri Lanka instead.
