ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, CMC – Pakistan’s cricket authorities are hoping to convince the West Indies Cricket Board to play limited overs fixtures here later this year, in an attempt to end the country’s seven-year hiatus as an international venue.
No major Test-playing nation has toured Pakistan since 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan squad on their way to the ground, killing seven policemen and injuring as many players.
West Indies are currently set to play Pakistan in two Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals in the United Arab Emirates in September but the Pakistan Cricket Board plan to ask for a couple of these games to be shifted to Pakistan.
The Pakistan Cricket Board are hoping to lure West Indies for a couple of limited overs fixtures in Pakistan.
“We have had some verbal discussions with them and we are now waiting and watching the improvement in the security situation in Pakistan,” the Press Trust of India newspaper quoted a PCB source as saying.
“If the situation remains stable and improves we will formally invite them to play a couple of the limited over matches from the series in the UAE in Pakistan.”
If West Indies agree to play, the PCB plans to pay increased fees to the visitors, the source also said.
The PCB also plan to engage the help of legendary former West Indies captain Sir Viv Richards and former master batsman Brian Lara, in helping to secure the fixtures, the PTI said.
One of the countries involved in the war on terror, Pakistan has become increasingly volatile in recent years, with the government engaged in fighting Islamic militants.
The volatility forced cricket’s governing body, the ICC, to pull the 2009 Champions Trophy and also led to India and Australia cancelling tours here.
Only last month, 72 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a public park in Lahore. The incident scuppered a proposed tour by Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan were close to agreeing to play the limited over series in Lahore and Karachi from April 15 to May 8 when the terrorist attack took place in the last week of March at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park,” the source noted.
Last February, cricket authorities here were forced to play the inaugural Pakistan Super League – the domestic T20 tournament – in Dubai and Sharjah.
