Calcutta: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf isn’t coming to Mohali, where Younis Khan’s men will play their last two league matches of the Champions Trophy, but director of cricket operations Salim Altaf is going to be there.

Having defeated Sri Lanka in Jaipur earlier this week, Pakistan now face New Zealand (October 25) and South Africa (October 27).

Even if Altaf’s visit had been planned before the Shoaib Akhtar-Mohammed Asif doping scandal broke, his trip assumes significance as he will be the first PCB official — and a very senior one at that — to cross the border after the latest controversy.

“It won’t surprise if Altaf (who has survived the PCB shake-up) carries a personal message from the new chairman... These are, after all, somewhat unusual circumstances,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph from Lahore Friday.

Altaf is expected to reach Mohali on October 24 and is going to stay there till the Afro-Asian Cricket Cooperation meeting on October 28. Jagmohan Dalmiya’s brainchild, that body is currently headed by Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar.

Dr Ashraf, meanwhile, is “certain” to be in Mumbai in the lead-up to the November 5 final. “The International Cricket Council’s Executive Board will meet there on November 3-4 and the chairman is going to use that opportunity to strike a rapport with the other cricket chiefs... As of now, he’s certain to be present,” the well-placed source added.

Being a federal minister, though, there’s always the chance that a more important engagement may crop up.