ODI series between Pakistan and Australia moved from Rawalpindi on 'political' grounds: Pak minister

The upcoming three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Australia has been moved from Rawalpindi to Karachi due to 'political reasons. Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad confirmed the development in a news conference on Friday (March 18). The Australian team is currently in Pakistan for their first tour of the country in 24 years.

Australia are in Pakistan for a full-fledged tour consisting of three Tests, as many ODIs and a one-off T20I game. The two teams have already played the first two Tests of the three-match series with both the games ending in a draw. They will lock horns in the third and final Test of the series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore starting from March 21.

Pakistan were then set to host Australia in three ODIs and one T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. However, the Pakistan government has decided to move the matches to Lahore from Rawalpindi without explaining the exact reason behind the move.

"The matches are being shifted to Lahore because of political activities in the capital," Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said at a news conference on Friday.

The ongoing historic Test series between Australia and Pakistan has been en eventful one so far with both teams giving their best to outclass each other. After the drawn first Test in Rawalpindi, Australia had dominated the proceedings for the major part of the second Test in Karachi as they bundled out Pakistan for a platry 148 afer posting 556/9 on the board in their first innings.

Australia then scored 97 runs in their second innings and declared to hand Pakistan a massive target of 506 runs. Pakistan looked set to face a crushing defeat but captain Babar Azam played a fantastic knock of 196 runs and combined with Mohammad Rizwan (104) and Abdullah Shafique (96) to ensure Pakistan were able to pull off a draw by posting 443/7 in their second innings.