Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Najam Sethi has once again hinted at New Zealand tour of Pakistan this year.
In an interview to PakPassion, Sethi said, “New Zealand, in theory, have said yes, they will consider our request, provided we think the security is OK. If that is the case, they may play one or two games in Pakistan.”
Pakistan have waited for almost six years to welcome international cricket back to the country after the attack on Sri Lankan Cricket team. Zimbabwe was the first team to tour the country in 2015 after the incident.
Later on Pakistan successfully hosted Pakistan Super League (PSL) final in Lahore in 2017 followed by the tour of World XI and Sri Lanka in the same year. This year PCB managed to host two eliminators and final of the PSL3 in Lahore and Karachi, respectively.
In the same year West Indies also toured Pakistan for three Twenty 20 Internationals at National Stadium Karachi. Following the conclusion of West Indies tour, PCB had requested New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia to play at least a game in Pakistan later this year when they play against the Green Shirts for home series in UAE or Malaysia.
Considering the importance of New Zealand tour to Pakistan, PCB chairman said, “If we can get New Zealand to come and play, then I believe we have a good case to make with Australia who could follow on the heels of their neighbours. If both Australia and New Zealand come to play even one or two games in Pakistan, then by the time it is time for our home series with England, we could persuade them to play in Pakistan too.”
Sethi said he has set himself a timeline of five years for this task. "We are now one and half years down that road. In this time, we have had Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, the World XI and West Indies visit us in Pakistan and we’ve also had PSL players coming to our country."
"So, you can almost say that most of the world’s top players, barring some notable exceptions, have already played a match or two in Pakistan and my sense is that this trend will continue," he added.