The Pakistan squad is still waiting for Indian visas to travel to the country while the other seven of the eight participating teams are getting ready for a pre-SAFF Championship news conference in Bengaluru today.
The 14th iteration of the regional football spectacular is due to get begin in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The hosts, India, are scheduled to play against Pakistan in the second match of the day at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The first match of the day will be between Kuwait and Nepal.
Teams from Lebanon, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan, and Nepal are already in India; however, the Pakistan squad was forced to postpone their trip because they were unable to secure Indian visas in time. The Pakistan team was scheduled to arrive in India on Sunday after finishing their competition in Mauritius as part of a four-nation tournament.
“Up to this point, they (Pakistan) have not been granted the visa. I was told by the secretary general of the AIFF that they are now awaiting a letter from the Indian government. According to statements made by SAFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal to The Daily Star on Monday, Pakistan may come the next day if the letter is sent by today.
When asked what would take place if the Pakistan team would not get the visas on time, Helal responded by saying, “We have nothing to do and we can’t postpone the championship because there are things like broadcast and the return flight of the teams that are related to the matter of deferment.” Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Pakistan will show up tomorrow and play the day after that.
In addition, Helal told us that the referees coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan had not yet received their visas.
In the following over, the fearless batsman, who had previously captained England, hit seamer Boland for six with a reverse-ramped shot.
Cummins responded with a strike when he bowled Pope (14) with a thunderbolt yorker, which brought the score to 77-3 for England.
When the approaching Root slogged and missed, Lyon made the breakthrough. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey then completed a beautiful legside dismissal as the star batsman was stumped for the first time in his Test career.
When Brook misplayed a pull off Lyon to Labuschagne, Australia was rewarded for their ability to keep Brook held down and prevent him from scoring.
Stokes was again dismissed in the 40s, this time by Cummins through leg before wicket for 43.
However, the final two wickets for England combined 44 runs before Robinson holed out in the deep off of Cummins. At this point, Australia were into the tail end of England’s batting lineup.