Pakistan's domestic T20 tournament to be postponed till November

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has gone all out in their bid to revive international cricket in the nation and the attempt to host a World XI series serves as a testament to that. In 2009 Pakistan cricket suffered a major setback when a terrorist group attacked Sri Lankan players leaving a few of them injured. Since then, there hasn’t been much international cricket in the country with only Zimbabwe touring the nation for a limited-overs series in 2015.

Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournament was also slated to start in September but has now been postponed to November. It will be held from 4-19 November. This was because the dates were colliding with an election and the World XI’s tour for three T20Is. Thus, with the delay, now all the players will be available for the week-long tournament.

Speaking at a conference, PCB chairman Najam Sethi said, “The World XI series was not officially confirmed when we set the dates for our domestic tournament. That series falls right in the middle of when our competition would have been played. Then there’s a by-election (NA120) and after that the team has to go to the UAE, so the competition was squeezed out. As a result, we have moved it to November”

“An added advantage of this arrangement is that our players who are taking part in the CPL and other county will be able to take full part in those tournaments. This will make the players happy too as well as the CPL“

The series will feature cricketers from top countries

The squads for the flagship event will include players from seven countries- South Africa, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. Each player has been offered a lucrative deal of £80,000 for the three-match series.

Dynamic South African batsman Hashim Amla has already given the nod, while former England captain Paul Collingwood is only left with the formalities.