Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Sunday (May 30th) that the ODI series between Pakistan and West Indies has been shifted from Rawalpindi to Multan.
The three-match ODI series, which was supposed to take place in Rawalpindi from June 8th next week, is now shifted to Multan due to political unrest in Rawalpindi, as reported a couple of days earlier.
In December last year (2021), West Indies toured Pakistan for a limited overs cricket. The T20I series went ahead as planned, with Pakistan winning it 3-0. But the three-match ODI series got postponed due to the detection of the Omicron variant.
The series got rescheduled and was finally set to start on June 8th in Rawalpindi. However, it has now been shifted to Multan as per the government advice, without any further change in schedule.
The ODI series, which is a part of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, will take place on the dates as per the previous schedule. Accordingly, it will commence on June 8th, followed by the second ODI on June 10th, and the third match will conclude the series on June 12th.
Pakistan have already named a 16-member squad led by Babar Azam for the three-match series, with Shadab Khan returning as vice-captain. The selected 16-member squad will meet in Lahore and start their camp on June 1st, under Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq. All the players are expected to be present for the camp, with Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan joining the squad the next day due to their involvement in T20 Blast. The team will fly to Multan on Saturday (June 5th) after the four-days training camp in Lahore.
The West Indies will arrive in the capital on Sunday (June 6th) after a three-match ODI series against the Netherlands, commencing on May 31st and reaching Multan via a charter flight.
Meanwhile, players like Haider Ali, Akif Javed, Yasir Shah, and Imad Wasim have joined the second phase of the conditioning camp, which started at the National High-Performance Center.
Multan will be hosting its first ODI game since 2008. The ODI series will be part of the ICC World Cup Super League, determining the qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup.