Following Afghanistan’s withdrawal from the upcoming T20I tri-series, Zim has been confirmed as their replacement. The series, which also features Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is scheduled to take place from November 17 to 29, with matches in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) pulled out of the tournament after three local cricketers tragically lost their lives in what has been reported as a cross-border attack in Urgun district, Paktika province. The players—Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon—had been returning from a friendly match in Sharana when they were targeted.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 (𝑲𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒓, 𝑺𝒊𝒃𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒏) 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑼𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒊𝒌𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑼𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑪𝑩 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔.
The board added, “In response to this tragic incident and as a gesture of respect to the victims, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has decided to withdraw from participating in the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series involving Pakistan.”
Pakistan Confirms Series Schedule with Zimbabwe
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the tri-series will continue as planned, with Zimbabwe filling the vacant spot left by Afghanistan. The series will open with Pakistan taking on Zimbabwe at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on November 17, followed by Sri Lanka versus Zimbabwe on November 19. The remaining matches, including the final on November 29, will be held at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
“The Tri-Series will progress as scheduled even after Afghanistan’s withdrawal. We are finalizing the replacement team and will announce it soon,” a senior PCB official said.
Pakistan Tri-Series Schedule:
- 17 Nov: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe – Rawalpindi
- 19 Nov: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe – Rawalpindi
- 22 Nov: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka – Lahore
- 23 Nov: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe – Lahore
- 25 Nov: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe – Lahore
- 27 Nov: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka – Lahore
- 29 Nov: Final – Lahore
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