Published: Jun 05, 2015, 09:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 05, 2015, 09:26 PM (IST)
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will invite Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to tour Pakistan next year in its continuing bid to revive international cricket in the country. PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters here that after the successful tour by the Zimbabwe team, the board had stepped up its efforts to get more international teams to visit the country. READ: Zaheer Abbas: Revival of international cricket in Pakistan will be the priority
Zimbabwe was the first test team to visit late May since 2009 when militants had attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver. “The way the people responded to the tour by Zimbabwe I think they gave out a clear message just how passionate we are about cricket and how much we want international cricket to return to Pakistan,” Khan said.
“We are pretty confident we will be able to sign agreements with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for them to send their teams to Pakistan next year,” the PCB chief added.
Khan said the security arrangements made for Zimbabwe were exemplary and confirmed Pakistan’s ability to host any international team while providing them a safe and secure environment to play cricket. “The series was a success because the coordination between the PCB, government and security agencies was very good and everyone had learnt from the mistakes made in 2009,” he said. READ: Shahryar Khan believes Zimbabwe’s tour has given hope for international cricket in Pakistan
But he admitted that while international cricket had returned to Pakistan but it would take another four to five years to normalise tours by visiting teams. Khan said while the PCB could understand the International Cricket Council (ICC) reluctance to send match officials for the Zimbabwe series but hoped in future they would increase their support for revival of international cricket in Pakistan.
Khan said in the next international series in Pakistan the board would organise matches in Karachi as well and the national stadium was being renovated to ensure the best security arrangements for touring sides. “We are planning to build a five star accommodation within the national stadium as we have lot of land which can be utilized and that would allow us to host teams of within the national stadium and provide them the best facilities for accommodation, training and leisure.”
Khan said in future Pakistan was keen to also host Test matches against visiting teams Khan was visibly upset with the recent statement of the New Zealand players association and the international federation of cricketers about the security situation in Pakistan and warning teams not to tour the country. READ: Shahryar Khan proposes Pakistan home matches in India
“I couldn?t understand what is the problem with the NZ body when the Zimbabwean players had no issues coming to Pakistan and they were well looked after. Maybe the FICA has always been making negative comments about us because we don’t allow our players to be part of that body,” the PCB chief said.
Asked about Indo-Pak relations and possibility of the revival of bilateral ties this year, Khan said work was continuing on getting the green signal from the BJP government in India for the series in December. “It will be held in the UAE as per our agreement with the Indian board,” he stated.
He said a change of board set up and government in India meant that the memorandum of understanding signed between the two boards had to be revisited by the new set ups to get clearance for the series. READ: PCB chief unhappy with BCCI’s response on reviving India-Pakistan cricketing ties
