Neither Babar Azam nor other players will be able to attend Haris Rauf’s reception tonight in Rawalpindi. 

The Pakistan team management has refused to allow players to travel to Rawalpindi because of poor weather. During the Saturday [July 8] test series, the national team is scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka.

The players were initially scheduled to travel from Karachi to Rawalpindi in the evening today and return in the afternoon on Saturday. Due to poor weather forecasts and rain forecasts following monsoon season, the team management has decided against taking any risks. 

Pakistan is currently undergoing a training camp ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, which ends today in Karachi. Hanif Mohammad High Performance Center at National Bank Stadium will only host one training session for the players. 

In Karachi, players will now attend the wedding ceremony of Shahid Afridi’s eldest daughter. 

Sri Lanka will play Pakistan in two Tests later this month. In the third cycle of the ICC Test Championship, it will be the first series for the national team. 

Pakistan squad

Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, and Shan Masood made up the team which was led by Babar Azam (c). Mohammad Rizwan was the vice chancellor.

Expected schedule

16-20 July – First test

24-28 July – Second Test