Pakistan hoping to host a Sri Lanka tour next year

After managing to impress the visiting Zimbabwe cricket team with its security arrangements, the PCB is now hoping for more teams to visit the team for cricket series, primarily hoping to host a tour by the Sri Lankan outfit sometime in April next year.

Managing to impress the visiting Zimbabwe cricket team with its security arrangements, the PCB is now targeting a tour by the Sri Lankan outfit sometime in April next year.

A well-informed source in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that the PCB had managed to convince the head of the Sri Lankan cricket interim committee, Siddhart Wettimuny to visit Lahore for the last one-day international against Zimbabwe this Sunday.

“The PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan plans to hold talks with Wettimuny on the possibility of Sri Lankan sending its team for a series in April next year,” the source said.

“Pakistan has already got positives vibes from Sri Lanka and they are hopeful they will host another international side next year,” the source added.

International cricket stopped in Pakistan following the militant attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus, in which six Pakistani policeman and a van driver were killed and some visiting players wounded. Cricket in Pakistan was badly affected due to the accident, and no team agreed to visit the country in the past six years, until finally the Zimbabwe cricket team agreed to do so.

The Pakistani officials have ensure extreme tight security for the cricketers this time stating that all the threats were assessed initially and a nod from all the intelligence agencies was taken before making the final call.

According to the PCB’s Senior General Manager Vigilance Muhammad Azam Khan, Pakistan’s security in the on going series has already created a positive impact. Azam said the best security mechanism was being provided to the touring side with nothing left to chance.

“All Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are involved in making sure nothing goes wrong anywhere whether it is the stadium, hotel or anywhere else,” said Azam.

“Lahore is on high alert because even a small incident can take us back to square one,” he added.