New Delhi: Former India batter Mohammad Kaif lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not covering the entire ground as rain washed out the ICC Champions Trophy Group B fixture between Australia and South Africa in Rawalpindi.
Heavy rain in Rawalpindi delayed the toss for more than three hours before the fixture was called off. Just before the official announcement of the match abandonment, a picture shared by Kaif on social media showed that the outfield was not fully covered by the groundsmen.
Baffled with the scenes at the venue, Kaif slammed the hosts for their use of ICC funds for the eight-team marquee tournament and called it a “shame”.
Taking to X, Kaif wrote, “It’s a shame that the Rawalpindi ground isn’t fully covered. Such an important match – SA vs Aus – might go down the drain because no one addressed this issue. Was the ICC money utilised wisely by hosts?”
For the unversed, the renovation of stadiums in Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi was completed just days before the Champions Trophy despite multiple deadline extensions.
This marks Pakistan’s first time hosting an ICC event in 29 years, having last co-hosted the 1996 World Cup. Meanwhile, India are playing their matches in Dubai.
The conditions in Rawalpindi didn’t improve even after more than three hours of the scheduled start and the officials took the ultimate decision to abandon the encounter.
The first-ever encounter between the two sides in the tournament saw an unwanted end as both sides shared a point each due to no result. With this, South Africa stays atop Group B with three points at an NRR of +2.140, while Australia are second with +0.475.
South Africa and Australia started their campaign on a winning note against Afghanistan and England respectively. A win in the clash would have bolstered their semis hopes in Group B.
Australia will next take on Afghanistan in their final Group B match February 28 while South Africa will play England in their last game March 1.
IANS
