DOHA (Qatar): Arch rivals India and Pakistan will feature in the Asian Communities T10 Cricket Tournament, organized by the Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) at the Asian Town Stadium on Friday (December 25).
Two other teams include Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the one-day tournament, a part of the Qatar National Day celebrations.
At the international level, India and Pakistan have stopped playing bilateral series. The last time India toured Pakistan was in 2005–06 season while Pakistan went to India in 2007.
All the four teams have players who have represented Qatar national team in international tournament at the senior level and also includes upcoming players from the Qatar Under-19 and Under-16 squads.
Qatar men’s team, which has players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, last played an international match in February. The tournament on the Christmas Day will be the first one for the Qatar players after a gap of nine months.
QCA President Yousef Jeham Al Kuwari said that all precautionary measures and COVID-19 preventive measures will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health with all players, participants and support staff members subjected to a virus tests, to ensure safety of everyone.
He also added that all fans will have to adhere to social distancing, wear a mask and show the green status of Ehteraz application to gain entry to the stadium.
In March, all sporting activities came to a halt in Qatar on account of Coronavirus pandemic and things have gradually improved since September when sports restarted.
QCA resumed the sport in November, but the 2019-2020 league season had to be stopped after a week
following restart.
The competitions begins at 9.30am with the final expected to finish around 8pm.
