According to well placed sources, Rawalpindi has stood down in favour of Faisalabad who have not been awarded a single international match this season.

Informed sources said Faisalabad cricket officials held deliberations with their Rawalpindi counterparts during the four-day match between Rawalpindi and Australia earlier this week.

``Rawalpindi has decided to back out in favour of Faisalabad. But they have yet to officially confirm the decision to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) authorities,'' sources said.

This season, Peshawar and Rawalpindi have been awarded two Tests and a one-dayer respectively which created a hue and cry in Faisalabad cricket circles.

Sources said during a cricket board meeting a couple months ago, Faisalabad cricket officials uttered 'upsetting remarks' against a senior PCB official who instructed to shift away all the games from there.

``We thought Faisalabad had a genuine complain. All the associations are like a family and we thought it is our moral obligation to come to their rescue,'' a Rawalpindi Division Cricket Association (RDCA) official told Dawn on condition of anonymity.