London, July 09: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rescheduled the Champions Trophy tournament, which will be now played from September 22 to October 5 in South Africa, advanced by 2 days.
This decision of starting this tournament early has been taken by ICC after the recommendations of some cricket boards who have requested for a proper break between the matches in the tournament.
In another major decision, the ICC has selected only two venues, the Wanders in Johannesburg and Centurion in Pretoria, for all the 14 matches, which will be played in the tournament.
A source reported that now all the 15 matches of the tournament would be held at the two venues, in Johannesburg and Centurion, in the 14 days.
Earlier, this tournament was shifted from Pakistan to South Africa by ICC due to security concerns after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, in which seven people were killed and several Sri Lankan players were wounded.
The tournament was originally scheduled to begin from September in Pakistan last year, but due to oppose by the participating countries it was firstly delayed and then shifted to South Africa.
—–Agencies