LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi broke even more good news for cricket fans in the country when he announced the West Indies team will be touring Pakistan in November this year.
Addressing media at the Gaddafi Stadium, Sethi said the West Indies Cricket Board has agreed to play three T20Is in Pakistan this November.
The visit, however, remains subject to security clearance by an ICC-sponsored security expert team.
“Cricket West Indies and Pakistan Cricket Board are advancing discussions that will see the West Indies team play 3 T20 matches with Pakistan in Lahore in late November,” said a statement released by the PCB.
The statement further added that the tour will be subject to the ICC World XI team’s visit to Pakistan and affirmation of manageable security by the ICC-sponsored security experts.
Sethi also confirmed the World XI will be coming to Pakistan in the second week of September.
The PCB chief said the World XI team will be announced in the next 72 hours.
“Andy Flower will be the manager of the World XI team, rest of the names will be announced in 72 hours,” Sethi said.
The chairman further confirmed that Sri Lanka will be visiting Pakistan in October this year. The Sri Lankan cricket board had earlier given a go-ahead to “at least one” T20 match in Pakistan.
Sri Lanka cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala had said that after a security assessment, the team had been cleared to play three T20 internationals including “at least one” in Lahore, scene of the 2009 attack which left eight people dead.
He had also called for an end to Pakistan´s isolation and urged countries to play there.
“Sri Lanka suffered through three decades of terrorism and war and at one stage no one wanted to come here — Pakistan stood by us then, as did India,” Sumathipala had said.
Moreover, PCB has also pushed the dates of national T20 to November. The players who recently returned from Caribbean Premier League will now go back to West Indies after giving their fitness tests at the National Cricket Academy.
