Rawalpindi excluded for next month's Champions Trophy

Rawalpindi has been dropped as the third city for next month's Champions Trophy, according to a provisional International Cricket Council (ICC) schedule sent to member boards.

A copy of the schedule released to Reuters said the eight-nation tournament scheduled over September 12-28 will now be restricted to Lahore and Karachi.

The event was due to start on September 11, the anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks on America in 2001.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told reporters on Monday that Rawalpindi might be dropped for security reasons because it had not been used during the Asia Cup.

"That didn't provide us with the opportunity to test the security arrangements. We will explore whether we would only use Karachi and Lahore," he said during a visit to Pakistan by an ICC task force.

Australia, India, Pakistan and West Indies will play in Group A and New Zealand, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka in Group B.