NEW DELHI: As rain washed out the ICC Champions Trophy Group B match between Australia and South Africa in Rawalpindi, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for failing to cover the entire field.
The match was canceled after the toss was postponed for over three hours due to heavy rain in Rawalpindi. Kaif posted a photo on social media shortly before the match was officially abandoned, revealing that the groundskeepers had not completely covered the area.
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?”
Despite several deadline extensions, the stadium renovations in Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi were finished just a few days before the Champions Trophy.
After co-hosting the World Cup in 1996, this is Pakistan’s first ICC event in 29 years. India are playing their matches in Dubai.
Even after more than three hours of the planned start, the situation in Rawalpindi didn’t get better, thus the officials decided to call off the match.
Due to the lack of a result, the two teams’ first-ever match in the tournament ended in an unintended way as they each shared a point. With three points and an NRR of +2.140, South Africa maintains its lead in Group B, while Australia comes in second with +0.475.
Australia and South Africa both had successful opening matches against England and Afghanistan, respectively. A victory in the match would have increased their chances of making it to the Group B semifinals.
Australia’s next match is against Afghanistan is on February 28 and South Africa’s last Group B encounter is against England on March 1.