PCB moves second Sri Lanka Test from Lahore to Rawalpindi
A board spokesman said smog in Lahore forced the switch, while the 17 to 21 November dates and the rest of the schedule stay as they were.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play the second Test of their two-match series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from 17 to 21 November after the Pakistan Cricket Board shifted the fixture out of Lahore because of smog.
A PCB spokesman confirmed the change to Aaj News and said the dates and the rest of the schedule remain as they were. Only the venue has changed, he said.
The match had been scheduled in Lahore from 17 November. Express News reported that it was to be played at Gaddafi Stadium and that PCB officials had been considering an alternative plan as smog thickened over the city in recent days.
Express News, citing sources, reported the shift as a possibility rather than a decision, and said consultations on it were at an initial stage. It quoted sources as saying that if the proposal went ahead, Rawalpindi would host the second Test as well. Aaj News reported the move as confirmed by the board's spokesman, who gave the growing intensity of smog in Lahore as the reason.
The first Test is under way in Rawalpindi. Express News reported that smog levels in Rawalpindi are far lower than in Lahore, where it said smog had increased over the past few days.
With the second Test also moved, Rawalpindi now stages both matches of the series and Lahore stages neither. The PCB spokesman said no change had been made to the schedule of the second Test, only to its venue.
Both outlets gave smog in Lahore as the reason for the change. Express News attributed the proposal to PCB officials' concern over the weather in the city.
How the reports differ
Aaj News reported the switch as settled, with a PCB spokesman confirming the new venue and the unchanged dates. Express News reported it as a likely move, citing sources who said consultations were at an initial stage, and named Gaddafi Stadium as the original venue for the 17 November start. Express News also said smog levels in Rawalpindi, where the first Test is being played, are much lower than in Lahore.
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