Pakistan is a safe country for international cricket, says Zaka Ashraf – Cricket News Update
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashraf-c46397, thanked the British Universities XI for visiting Pakistan, and said that the tour proves the fact that Pakistan is a safe country for holding international events.
The British team recently visited Pakistan for a few charity games, and they played against the Pakistan Under-19s in Lahore.
No international cricket has been played in Pakistan since March, 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by militants outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Green Shirts have been playing their home matches away from home since that event, but passion
for the game remains in Pakistan.
Having been deprived of home matches, any other international team would have struggled to remain a force in international cricket, but this is not the case with Pakistan, as the Green Shirts have been doing exceedingly well at the highest stage of the game
since the last couple of years.
While speaking to Pakpassion, Ashraf expressed that the crowd in Lahore was supportive for the home team as well as the visitors, which goes to show that the people of Pakistan deserve international cricket at home.
The Chairman said, “The feedback from the people of Lahore is great as you must have witnessed from the match – they were cheering their own Under 19 team but also our brothers from Britain. So I think that this is a message to the rest of the world that
Pakistan is a safe country.”
Ashraf believes that Pakistan is a cricket loving nation even though they have been deprived of international cricket for the last three years.
The Chairman also thanked the British team for touring Pakistan under such circumstances and feels that this tour should set the example for other international teams.
“The people of Pakistan deserve credit for holding on to something they have been starved off. The way they were cheering and welcoming you shows their feelings inside their hearts – you have broken the barrier and essentially broken the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gareth-Berg-c1457 for the revival
of cricket in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755,” he added.
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