SL likely to play two-Test series in Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to host a Test series in its own backyard for the first in more than a decade later this year.

Well-placed sources told ‘The News’ that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is close to securing a two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home later this year.

Senior Board officials have been in talks with their Sri Lankan counterparts about the possibility of Sri Lanka’s team travelling to Pakistan to play two Tests which will be part of the ICC’s World Test Championship.

Sources said that though nothing is official yet, there is a nig likelihood that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the game’s governing body in the country, could soon agree to send its team to play the two Tests in Pakistan. Once SLC gives its consent, then the PCB will announce the schedule of the two Tests. They will be played in Karachi and Lahore.

The inaugural ICC World Test Championship will begin in July this year with a final in June 2021. The championship will feature nine of the 12 Test playing nations, not including Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan last hosted a Test match on home soil back in March 2009. That Test featuring the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore was cancelled after the tourists were ambushed by terrorists while travelling to the Gaddafi Stadium. Several of the Sri Lankan team players were injured in the attack that left eight people, mostly cops, dead.

Pakistan became a no-go zone for international teams after the incident. The country’s cricket board was forced to host its home matches on neutral venues mostly in the United SArab Emirates (UAE). However, in recent years there have been several positive developments.

Zimbabwe helped Pakistan break the ice by visiting the country for a brief series back in 2015. In 2017, Pakistan hosted the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore. A World XI featuring several international stars also visited Pakistan. Sri Lanka played a T20 game in Lahore and West Indies visited for an ODI series while the several matches of the third and fourth editions of PSL were held on Pakistani soil.

Last month, on the sidelines of the PSL final at Karachi’s iconic National Stadium, ICC’s chief executive Dav Richardson gave Pakistan his vote of confidence by stressing that it was a safe place for international cricket.