It’s been almost nine years since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore – and since then, Pakistan has been deprived of international cricket at home. Efforts are being made, but cricket seems to be taking far too long in returning home…
Since that dreaded day in 2009, Pakistan has had little to no international cricket at home. The foreign teams have time and again refused to tour based on security concerns. In the meantime, Pakistan has had to host all its home series in the UAE. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been making efforts to bring cricket back home for quite some time, but there has been very little success.
The introduction of the Pakistan Super League was intended to facilitate the restoration of international cricket at home. In 2017, Pakistan successfully hosted the league’s final in Lahore – but to the dismay of the PCB and the Pakistani fans, a lot of foreign players refused to accompany their respective teams for the game. In 2018, Pakistan successfully managed to host three matches of the league in Lahore and Karachi. This time around, however, the response from foreign players was better. Quite a few accompanied their teams to Pakistan for the matches. Many also appreciated PCB’s efforts to make their stay both peaceful and secure. Yet still, foreign teams are reluctant to play in Pakistan.
Lahore you were simply amzing.. thank you for everything. Safe and sound #hblpsl #ClarasBoy #ChocolateMan pic.twitter.com/GE5RFPjJCI
— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) March 22, 2018
Soon after the third edition of the PSL, Pakistan also hosted West Indies for a three match T20I series. The West Indies team that toured Pakistan was labelled as a ‘B side’. The team was criticized for being weak after some major names pulled themselves out. The PCB, however, denied all such claims. The West Indies team was the third test -playing nation to tour Pakistan after Zimbabwe (in 2015) and Sri Lanka (in 2017). A world XI team also toured Pakistan earlier. Despite the success of these tours, and the touring teams showing confidence in the security measures taken by Pakistan for the matches, major teams fail to be attracted.
On Tuesday, New Zealand refused to tour Pakistan for a T20 series after Pakistan had expressed their desire to host the series in Pakistan instead of the UAE. Pakistan are due to host New Zealand for a full tour in the later half of this year. Earlier, Australia had refused to even consider allowing any matches from its tour to be played in Pakistan. New Zealand, however, had given hope to the cricket fans in Pakistan after it had decided to weigh up the request. With the Kiwis now turning down the request, the question remains: How long will it take for Pakistan to host international cricket at home?
New Zealand Refuse to Tour Pakistan Citing Security Reasonshttps://t.co/cmCoAL9Pic
— CricketNext (@cricketnext) July 31, 2018
The PCB chairman, Najam Sethi, seems confident that cricket will be fully restored in Pakistan soon. In a statement earlier, he had assured the people that international cricket will be restored in the country within two years maximum. The ICC had also extended help when it agreed to stage a T20 series involving World XI in Pakistan.
It is true that international cricket will take time in fully returning to Pakistan. The cricket-deprived fans in Pakistan need to wait a little longer before they can see some major test playing nations like South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand playing in their stadiums. For now, the good news for the nation’s fans is that the next edition of Pakistan Super League promises to bring more matches home. The fourth edition of PSL will see Pakistan hosting around eight matches at home – and will hopefully persuade more teams to rethink their rigid stance.