The proposed cricket series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka has been temporarily postponed due to increasing tension in the Middle East. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officially confirmed this on Tuesday, stating that the decision was taken due to unstable conditions in the region. This series was scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20 matches were scheduled to be played between the two teams from March 13 to March 25, but considering the current circumstances, it has been postponed to a later date.
According to a Cricbuzz report, Afghanistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Officer Naseeb Khan stated that it was difficult to hold the series under the current circumstances. He explained that along with the tense situation in the region, several challenges related to air travel and logistics were also emerging, which led to this decision.
Naseeb Khan, CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, also mentioned that the option of shifting the series to Sri Lanka was explored. However, flights from UAE to Sri Lanka were not available at that time, causing difficulties in managing team travel. Additionally, arranging hotel bookings, ground availability, and security measures in a short period was challenging. Therefore, the decision was made to postpone the series for now. The board stated that it might be held in the last quarter of the year.
This T20 series was also considered special because Rashid Khan was recently removed from the T20 team captaincy. This would have been the first time Afghanistan’s T20 team would have played under the captaincy of Ibrahim Zadran.
The two teams had also faced each other recently in the T20 World Cup 2026. Afghanistan’s performance this time was not as expected, and the team could not advance beyond the group stage. Earlier, in the 2024 tournament, Afghanistan showcased excellent play, reaching the semi-finals. Meanwhile, co-hosts Sri Lanka’s journey in the tournament was also not long, and the team was eliminated in the Super 8 stage.
