Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) were planning to play a white-ball series in the United Arab Emirates. However, increasing conflict, including missile exchanges between the United States, Israel, Iran and other countries in the Middle East, has made playing cricket in the region very difficult.
The United Arab Emirates is usually a popular and busy venue to host cricket series. Notably, the main focus of the cricket world is on the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which is taking place in India and Sri Lanka. Fans are watching this prestigious tournament, but cricket boards also have to plan for future bilateral series.
Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka series postponed
According to www.adaderana.lk, Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to postpone the upcoming series against Afghanistan. Afghanistan were to host Sri Lanka for the first time for a white-ball series.
The teams were to play three T20 matches in Sharjah from March 13 to 17. After this, they had to play three ODI matches in Dubai from 20 to 25 March.
The series has been postponed due to the Middle East conflict. SLC CEO Ashley de Silva recently said that no final decision has been made. However, both boards are now talking about either delaying the series or shifting the matches to Sri Lanka.
According to sources, “Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has decided to postpone the upcoming T20 and ODI series against Afghanistan, which was to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Many cricket tours disrupted due to Middle East conflict
The Sri Lanka-Afghanistan series is not the only cricket competition affected by the conflict. The situation has led to the closure of airspace across West Asia. This has created major problems related to travel and logistics for the teams playing in the T20 World Cup.
After being out of the tournament, the teams of West Indies and Zimbabwe are currently stuck in India. Their return flights via Dubai were canceled due to problems and damage reported at Dubai International Airport.
The remainder of the England Lions tour in Abu Dhabi was canceled due to security concerns. They had to play a match against Pakistan Shaheens. A month-long training camp for the England Women’s team in Abu Dhabi was also cancelled, forcing them to find other options.
Sri Lanka will have to wait till the West Indies tour
The Afghanistan T20 series was scheduled to begin on March 8, just five days after the T20 World Cup ends. The plan was to end the ODI matches on March 26, just before the start of the IPL and PSL.
Players like Dasun Shanaka, Rashid Khan, Kusal Perera and Noor Ahmed were to play in this series before joining their franchise teams. If this bilateral series is completely canceled then the Sri Lankan team will not play any international cricket for a few months.
They will have to wait till June or July this year. Sri Lanka are scheduled to travel to the West Indies for a tour across all formats. They will play two Test matches for the ICC World Test Championship, followed by ODI and T20 matches.
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