Published: Aug 23, 2016, 02:09 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 23, 2016, 02:19 AM (IST)
Pakistan Cricket Board executive committee head and chairman of the Pakistan Super League, Najam Sethi, has requested the Punjab government to start a process in order to host the PSL final in Lahore next year. The match is expected to be played on March 9, 2017. If the overseas players in the final two teams were not willing to take part in the ultimate battle, in that case the franchises can pick other overseas players from a bunch who will be up to play in Lahore. Till May 2015, Pakistan did not host an international game after the terror attacks on Sri Lankan team in March 2009. Zimbabwe was the first full-member nation to tour Pakistan in May 2015 for an ODI series but no ICC officials were present.
Sethi was quoted in a report from ESPNCricinfo saying, “All systems being put in place. We are in the process of signing up top foreign players who are ready to play in Lahore if their team gets into the final. All we need are ten top foreign players. If there are some foreign players among the finalists who are not prepared to play in Lahore, we will have an arrangement with others who don’t make it to the finals, and facilitate the finalist franchisees to select from that pool of players who are available to play in Lahore.”
“Look, it is only a question of one day in Lahore. We can organise fool-proof security. The teams can be flown in and out within 24 hours. We have four armoured buses for transportation and the Punjab police has already demonstrated its efficiency in this regard when Zimbabwe toured last year,” Sethi added.
Sethi assured a tight security and spoke about how this games will pave way for more teams to consider touring Pakistan. He said, “Most importantly, the government has succeeded in uprooting most terrorist groups from Punjab. This fact is not lost on the ICC members. Foreign teams will come to Pakistan step by step. Ireland are ready to visit on the right financial terms because Zimbabwe showed the way. The West Indies were in discussions with us but pulled back when the Gulshan bomb went off. If we can demonstrate a successful PSL final in Lahore the message will go out loud and clear that at least short tours in one venue are possible. I personally think that by next year we should be able to hold T20 and ODI matches in Lahore or Karachi with foreign teams.”
