Pakistan and Australia Set for a Series

BY MADIHA AZHAR

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed the ‘home’ series against Australia to be held in UAE.

The series comprising of three One-Day-Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20s (T20s) will be played in August and September and are likely to earn the PCB a profit of millions of rupees.

The One-Day-Internationals will be played at Sharjah and Dubai while the three T20 internationals will be played in Dubai Sports City.

The Australian Board has confirmed the schedule of six matches. The one day matches, to be played between August 27 and September 10, will commence at 5.30 pm rather than 3.30 pm to save players from fatigue and injuries. Sources revealed that the decision has been made considering the extreme daytime heat.

The Australian Board was initially hesitant to play three ODIs and three T20 matches due to the extreme heat in the region. Owing to the board’s hesitation, PCB managed to get permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the series of six T20 match series contrary to Board’s rule of not allowing more than three matches. Despite permission, the PCB is working on the same number of T20 matches alongside three ODIs.

Since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket Team PCB has failed to host any series on home soil as no team is ready to visit Pakistan due to security concerns. The PCB has been forced to organize home series at neutral venues to meet the board’s expenditures, with the hopes the series will help the PCB lessen its budget deficit.