Cricket set to return in Pakistan with T20 series against World XI

The head of the ICC Pakistan Task Force Giles Clarke has confirmed that cricket will return to Pakistan in September this year. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is pondering over sending a World XI side to the country for a 4 match T20 series. The plans are rolling out in a decent pace kudos to a successful Pakistan Super League (PSL) final at Lahore recently. Quetta Gladiators locked horns with Peshawar Zalmi in the final encounter and the overseas players participated in the fixture too.

The international cricket or any competitive game of cricket of the same sorts had abandoned the country since the 2009 terrorist attacks on the Sri Lanka team bus. The Zimbabwe side had toured Pakistan in 2015 for a limited overs fixture but no major team toured Pakistan since the attacks. Hence, if the plan gets underway, the fans will be treated with some high-adrenaline action with the World XI playing in Pakistan. The details about the players who would likely turn up for the World XI side are yet to be decided or discloses for that matter.

Talking about the PSL final participation, it was seen that big names like Kevin Pietersen, Tymal Mills, Luke Wright and Rilee Rossouw had withdrew their names from the match. However, the likes of Darren Sammy and Dawid Malan participated in the match and were happy to be playing at Lahore. Giles Clarke reflected back at the same and hoped that the World XI T20 series could help the Pakistani fans get some action at home. He also said that the terrorists can definitely not win and cricket will not give up on the country.

“The desire is to give the cricket-starved Pakistani supporters the chance to see some of the world’s finest players in live action. The world of cricket needs to help Pakistan, who cannot continue to play their home fixtures overseas. The youth need inspiring, and the national teams need far more cricket played in familiar terrain. Furthermore, the terrorists cannot win and cricket must not give up on Pakistan,” Giles Clarke quoted.

Also read – Pakistan could replace India with either Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for a home series

Schedule: The World XI series overseas team will assemble in Dubai on 17 September, before flying to Lahore for four T20s on 22nd, 23rd, 28th and 29th.