Pakistan Government Issues Visas To Afghanistan Players For Travelling To Sri Lanka For Upcoming ODI Series

Pakistan government has granted visas to the Afghanistan squad ahead of the upcoming ODI series in Sri Lanka. Pakistan vs Afghanistan ODI series is scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka in September next month. The bilateral series will be hosted by Sri Lanka Cricket and is part of the Future Tour Programs (FTP) of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Afghan cricket team has been granted Pakistani visas as they are unable to board flights from their own country due to the Taliban takeover. With Taliban forces capturing Afghanistan and its capital city Kabul, the country is undergoing political turmoil. Due to the tense situation prevailing in the country, there are no commercial flights available from Kabul city.

Afghanistan Cricket Team To Board Flights From Pakistan

According to the Afghan team’s travel plan, they will travel to Pakistan by road. After reaching Pakistan, they will board a flight to UAE (Dubai). From Dubai, the team will board a flight to Colombo- Sri Lanka’s capital city. Hence, the Pakistan government has granted visas to the Afghan players so they can board their flights from Pakistan easily. According to the plans, the journey is set to be conducted today (August 23).

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, shared the news about the same on his official Twitter account.

“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,” Fawad Chaudhry tweeted.

The Pakistan government had also asked the Afghanistan cricket board to conduct the series in Pakistan itself, however, the idea was rejected by the Afghan cricket board. Pakistan tour of Afghanistan will observe a total of 3 ODI games.

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The first ODI will be played on September 1, 2021, at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota. The 2nd ODI encounter will be played on September 3 at the same venue. The ODI series will conclude with the final ODI game on September 5, 2021, which will also be hosted at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium.