Pakistan is not hosting international cricket regularly for last one decade. Only a few international teams have visited them for one or two matches but none of the big game has been played on Pakistani soil for a long time. In the meantime, Pakistan national team adopted UAE as their home ground and they play there as the home team.
The horrific terror attack on Sri Lankan team in 2009 is the reason why no one is visiting them. Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and World XI have played there in the last few years, but the isolation of big matches continues.
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Meanwhile, Pakistan has successfully hosted the last phase of the Pakistan Super League, where several foreign players visited Pakistan to play for their respective teams. The improvement in the ground situation has encouraged people to visit them. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is very happy with the improvement of Pakistan at cricketing front.
ICC Chief Executive Officer David Richardson welcomed this development with arms spread and mentioned hosting the PSL in Pakistan is ‘changing the perception’ of foreign players towards Pakistan.
“I think they’ve done a tremendous job and the level of comfort is growing all the time among the foreign players,” Richardson said during the final of PSL 2019 between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in Karachi, ESPNcricinfo reported.
The last phase of the PSL was shifted to Pakistan, where Karachi hosted the last eight matches of the season. Unlike the last two years, most of the away players nodded in yes to play in Pakistan.
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“I know some security officials from Australia and other countries have come to see the matches here. Step by step, certainly, Pakistan is on the right path and I know that the PCB will be redoubling their efforts to encourage people and teams to come across and certainly it will be with the ICC’s support,” Richardson further said.
Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators met in the final of PSL. Quetta finally broke the final huddle this time around and lifts the PSL trophy after beating Peshawar by eight wickets in Karachi.
