Mani says home series is culmination of hard work

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani has said that a lot of efforts were made behind the scenes to make the Sri Lanka series happen.

“This is going to go down as a proper tour since the Sri Lankans are going to play two different formats in two different cities. After a long time a team is going to be in Pakistan for a substantial period as the Sri Lankans will be in the country for 13 days,” Mani said a day before the ODI series begins in Karachi.

Pakistan face Sri Lanka on Friday (today) in the first match of the three-match ODI series here at National Stadium. “This is the first step and we look to build on this tour. This will give more confidence to other nations to tour Pakistan,” the PCB chief said.

He said the board’s ultimate goal was to host all international home series in the country. “We are firm on our stance that we will host our international cricket in the country,” Mani said. “If we don’t take a firm stance, there will always be pressures on us to host international cricket at neutral venues.

“We had Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Kevin Roberts and head of security Sean Carroll in Pakistan less than a week ago and they returned very satisfied. “Next week, we will be having CA chairman Earl Eddings, before a delegation from the English and Wales Cricket Board, comprising their chief executive and a director, travel to the country.”