Australian legend wants to see international cricket back in Pakistan

Following  Pakistan’s unprecedented success in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy, there have been calls of bringing back international cricket to the country. Several former cricketers have conceded that there is a dire need for the country to begin hosting international matches once again as the players and the crowd are starved to see the game being played in their own country.

Former Australian captain and expert analyst Ian Chappell mirrored similar thoughts. He said that he felt the absence of international matches in the country is a big block for Pakistan cricket in moving forward. He further advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take small steps to revive international cricket.

According to a report in Business Recorder, Chappell told a private news channel, “Don’t try for five tests or something like that, just some small steps are needed to get the world comfortable with playing in Pakistan and then you can start taking bigger steps.”

Only a few days back, following the Manchester bombing incident, Chappell had said that he felt much safer in Pakistan than in England at that moment. He had questioned the cricket administrators that if Pakistan is not allowed to host international matches, then the same rule should apply to England as well.

Pakistan last hosted a Test playing nation in 2009

The last time Pakistan hosted a cricket match featuring a Test playing nation was way back in 2009 when Sri Lanka were touring the nation. However, the tour was interrupted when terrorists attacked the Lankan team bus. After that incident, they were forced to play home internationals at neutral venues, bar one series against Zimbabwe a couple of years back.

Now, after a nearly eight-year hiatus, there have been talks of Pakistan hosting a World XI team in late September. A short T20I series is being planned for quite some time with the intention of re-introducing top-level cricket to the country.

– Written by Sagnik Kundu