Pakistan's National T20 Cup postponed due to Islamabad protests

The semi-final of Pakistan’s National T20 Cup has been postponed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after a crackdown on religious protesters by law enforcement personnel in Islamabad turned dirty. Both the semi-final fixtures at the Rawalpindi stadium which was scheduled for earlier today have been called off. With the situation deteriorating, the PCB eventually decided to postpone the games for at least one day.

Lahore Whites were scheduled to compete with Faisalabad at noon, while FATA was set to face Lahore Blues at 4 pm. However, the management team and the match officials failed to make the journey and were advised to stay back until the situation improved. The teams were also kept confined to their hotels with roads leading to the stadium blocked since early morning.

Shakeel Khan, PCB’s media manager, revealed in a statement, ‘The semi-finals of the National T20 Cup have been postponed today due to the current situation in Rawalpindi. PCB is monitoring the situation and will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.”

A policeman was martyred and at least 170 people injured

Protester belonging to religious parties, continued their sit-in, blocking Faizabad Interchange despite a notice by the Supreme Court. Thus, in a bid to get the situation under control, almost 8500 elite police and paramilitary troops deployed. However, things escalated quickly, with law troops using tear gas shelling to disperse the sit-in that had blockaded the capital for weeks.

A policeman was martyred while at least 170 people injured, including several security officials in the mayhem with protesters after authorities commenced an operation to disperse the weeks-long sit-in at Faizabad interchange earlier today. Dozens of protesters were detained as they resisted the operation and pelted stones at policemen and military troops after the capital was virtually paralyzed for weeks due to the sit-in.