Pakistan-Sri Lanka ODI series delayed

KARACHI: Pakistan’s three-match One-day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi has been delayed by a week because of a plethora of problems.

The organisers of the series which was supposed to be played from May 9-15 were forced to delay on the request of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Wednesday.

The official said that the event’s organisers have informed the PCB that the series is now expected to be held from May 15-20 because the Sri Lankans needed some time before sending their players to Abu Dhabi.

The Sri Lankans who featured in the April 28 final of the World Cup in Barbados got stranded in London en-route to Colombo after flights going to the Sri Lankan capital were suspended because of attacks carried out by Tamil Tigers in recent days.

However, sources said that another reason why the organisers in Abu Dhabi were unable to hold the series on time is because they are yet to sell any television rights.

Zakir Khan, PCB’s Director of Operations, when asked to comment on the issue said that it is wrong to say that series in Abu Dhabi has been postponed. “The dates of the series were never announced so you cannot say that it has been postponed or rescheduled,” he said.

There have been speculations in recent days that the series would be cancelled because of sponsorship-related problems but Zakir denied all such reports. “The series is very much on and the dates of the matches would be announced by the organisers in consultation with the Sri Lankans and the PCB,” he said.