Afghanistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hong-Kong-c2919 to visit Pakistan for Ramadan T20 Tournament in Karachi
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391, 2009. The doors to international cricket closed on Pakistan following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. After this horrific incident, Pakistan lost its right to host the 2011 ODI World Cup along with the Champions Trophy tournament as well. Pakistan since then is playing its home series on neutral venues.
However, the PCB and ICC are working together in order to restore international cricket in Pakistan. Recently, the team played a home test series against Australia in England under the MCC Spirit of Cricket banner. ECB has shown its desire to hold more Pakistani series in England, if needed. Cricket was getting greatly affected in Pakistan because of security problems due to which the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 was welcomed by fans at home.
Pakistan is taking its first step in the right direction to revive international cricket at home. After a break of one-and-a-half years, international cricket is finally coming back to Pakistan. Afghanistan and Hong Kong will play in a club level event taking place in Karachi. The PCB is hopeful that this tentative step will allow them to restore cricket on a larger scale.
Sindh Sports Minister Mohammad Ali Shah confirmed that Afghanistan and Hong Kong have agreed to visit Pakistan to play a domestic tournament. The event will be played in the Holy month of Ramadan. “It may be a small effort to revive international cricket in Pakistan, but I am happy to announce that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 and Hong Kong are sending their teams and their participation will encourage other teams to come to Pakistan,” he said.
The tournament will be played by 16 teams in a T20 format which is passionately followed in the country. The tournament will start from August 12th and will continue till 6th of September. Normally, matches are played under flood lights after the breaking of the fast in the month of Ramadan which gathers a lot of fan following in recent times. The winner of the tournament takes away 10 million Pakistani rupees [117,000 U.S dollars].
The Pakistani government is likely to make special security arrangements for this tournament in order to avoid any further embarrassment. “We are devising a strict security plan and there will be foolproof security for the teams,” said Shah.
Pakistan had previously promised presidential level security to the Sri Lankan team when they were attacked in Lahore. Authorities were heavily criticised for their failure to protect the visitors. Hopefully, cricket authorities and the local government have learnt their lessons and will do a better job.
The PCB recently compiled its inquiry report of last year’s terror attack on Sri Lankan team. The board requires the government’s approval for forwarding the report to the ICC. PCB’s spokesman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nadeem-Sarwar-c78422 said, “It was a judicial inquiry and we require permission from the government to dispatch the report to ICC.” The report is compiled by a panel of judges from the Lahore High Court.
Former ICC President Ehsan Mani criticized the PCB for not acting quickly and reporting the mistakes of the board. Mani thinks that the PCB should quickly submit the report to the ICC in order to revive some confidence at the international level. He said that any delay will only cause more problems for Pakistani cricket. “By not submitting the report, the PCB has not been able to form a strategy with the ICC and until the member boards analyse that report they will continue to hesitate when it comes to touring Pakistan,” he added.
PCB’s spokesman Nadeem Sarwar played down http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ehsan-Mani-c55791’s criticism and said that the PCB is in full coordination with the ICC and is doing its utmost to revive cricket in Pakistan. He also said that both PCB and ICC are on the same page. “ICC is the supreme cricket body and together we are trying our best to see international teams returning to Pakistan in the near future,” he said.
ICC’s Chief Executive Officer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719 recently said that the ICC might send a handpicked team to play in Pakistan. The possibility of sending an ICC XI is also on cards. Haroon said, "We will assess the situation very, very carefully. We know that we can't leave things as they are if it is at all possible to play in Pakistan," he said. "I'm not just suggesting a bi-lateral series; it may be an ICC XI. Whether it's a youth team, an older team, or whatever... I would go with that team as well.”
Former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has also started a campaign, with the name of “Not in my Game”, in order to revive cricket in Pakistan. The campaign is gathering momentum and is being supported by different corners of the cricketing world.
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