The worsening security situation in Pakistan has some of the teams, especially Australia, New Zealand and England, in two minds on whether to tour the country and while Sri Lanka is the official standby venue for the event, South Africa was also being cited as a possible host.

Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola said the board was capable of hosting the event, scheduled to begin on September 11.

"If requested by the International Cricket Council, and we agree on the terms and conditions of hosting the tournament, we will," Majola was quoted as saying by The Age.

He, however, made it clear that South Africa would not go out of its way and offer itself as an alternative venue.

"We have only one or two months to prepare. We have the ability to do it...I can't say we are applying for it, we're not. We would just be helping the ICC in the event of not being able to host it (in Pakistan). We will wait for the ICC to approach us," he said.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) also said that it was prepared to host the event if it needed to be shifted out of Pakistan.