US-Israel Iran War: The deteriorating situation in the Middle East due to the ongoing war between the US-Israel and Iran has also affected a cricket series.

Afghanistan series cancelled

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Series Postponed: The Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka series has been postponed amid the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed on Tuesday that the series against Sri Lanka is being postponed due to the ongoing war between the US, Israel, and Iran. The series was scheduled to be played in the UAE. The two teams were scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is from March 13 to March 25.

According to Cricbuzz, Afghanistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Naseeb Khan said the series with Sri Lanka was being postponed. He explained that the war situation in the UAE, along with air travel and logistics issues, were the reasons behind the postponement.

Naseeb Khan also revealed that it was considered to hold all the matches of the series in Sri Lanka, but at that time, no flights were available from the UAE to Sri Lanka. Furthermore, problems would have arisen regarding hotel bookings, ground and security arrangements within a short timeframe. Currently, the series has been postponed and may be held in the last quarter of the year.

The T20 series against Sri Lanka was particularly significant, as Rashid Khan had recently been stripped of the T20 captaincy. This would have been the first series in which the Afghanistan T20 team would play under the captaincy of Ibrahim Zadran.

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka recently competed in the T20 World Cup 2026. Afghanistan failed to advance beyond the group stage, failing to repeat their 2024 performance, reaching the semi-finals. Sri Lanka, despite co-hosting the tournament, were eliminated in the Super 8 stage.