Year 2019 will be remembered as a landmark year in Pakistan's cricketing history, as it ended with the country taking a major stride in ensuring full resumption of international cricket in Pakistan as Sri Lanka played two Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi in December.
Prior to the Test series, Pakistan had staged eight HBL Pakistan Super League matches in Karachi in March, while Karachi and Lahore played host to Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket in September/October.
The PCB got unprecedented recognition in the ICC with PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, Chief Executive Wasim Khan and Senior Legal Counsel Barrister Salman Naseer sitting on five influential committees. Implementation of the new PCB Constitution 2019 and rolling of transparency and accountability with the PCB uploading its Chairman's Statement of Expenses and Benefits are the administrative achievements of the year.
Reviewing 2019, PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said: "We had four objectives for this year and we have successfully met all of them. We had to reform our constitution, make the governance structure of the cricket board transparent, introduce corporate practices through clear delegation of duties and fully restore international cricket in Pakistan."
Mani said, "The genesis of better on-field performances in international cricket is in domestic cricket. We have made massive investment in the revamping of our domestic structure in a very short time which has resulted in a very successful Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The changes have brought forward some fundamental changes. The first-class matches have entered fourth day, which was previously missing. The pacers are not getting undue assistance anymore and this has brought spinners into play, which will address the issue of the lack of spinners."
He said, "The biggest challenge for me was to get Sri Lanka to tour Pakistan. They took small steps in their return to the country by playing white-ball cricket here first. The biggest achievement for me was the two Tests we played against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi and Karachi. It has sent out a message that Pakistan is safe and ready for international cricket and we will now build on it."
Mani said, "Our challenge is to bring consistency in our performances and deliver the results. Our players are professionals and the more they play the better they will deliver. These youngsters are extremely talented and they are the light at the end of tunnel, which has been evident by the recent performances."
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