PCB reworks schedule of tri-series against Zim, SL amid security concerns
awalpindi (PTI): The Pakistan Cricket Board has rescheduled the opening of a T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 17 to November 18 besides making Rawalpindi the sole venue for the tournament owing to the visiting teams' security concerns in the wake of a suicide attack in Islamabad.
The second game of the seven-match rubber has also been postponed by a day to November 20.
Earlier, Lahore was scheduled to host five games of the event, including the final on November 29 but the three boards have agreed to hold the proceedings exclusively in Rawalpindi now.
"The decision to revise the schedule was made in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), following mutual discussions to accommodate operational and match requirements," the PCB said in a statement after night of hectic negotiations to ensure that the Lankan players do not leave an ongoing ODI series midway.
The Zimbabwe cricket team reached Islamabad early Thursday morning amid tight security for what is being described as an "important preparatory platform ahead of the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup", by the PCB.
The Sri Lankan cricket team will also continue with its bilateral tour of Pakistan and no player or official is planning to return home, according to its team manager, Mahinda Halangoda.
Eight players had expressed concerns about continuing the tour after the terror attack in Islamabad, which left 12 dead and several injured. But after SLC spoke to them and gave them assurances, they have decided to stay for the assignment.
Halangoda said that no player would be returning to Sri Lanka.
"I can confirm that," he asserted.
A reliable source aware of the developments said it had taken massive behind the scenes efforts to convince the players that they would be safe in Pakistan and should continue playing the series.
"The Sri Lanka board President Shammi Silva and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Pakistan got involved and things are settled for now," he said.
PCB Chairman and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he was grateful to the Sri Lankan team for the decision to continue the Pakistan tour.
The PCB later announced a slight change in the schedule of the remaining two one-day games. The PCB announced that the two matches will now be played on Friday and Sunday in Rawalpindi, instead of the originally planned dates of November 13 and 15.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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