Afghan team invited to Pakistan

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Wasim Khan has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited the Afghan team to visit Pakistan.

Talking to a selected group of journalists here, Wasim said that the invitation will pave the way to their teams’ visit possible. Talks with Afghanistan cricket will soon be initiated, he added.

“The two boards will work together to open a window in this regard and every effort will be made to make the series possible. As we all know that next year of Pakistan team is very busy, we will try to open a window for Afghanistan. If next year’s window is not possible, we will make it possible in 2022 and for that we need immediate action,” he added.

Wasim said that Pakistan has supported the Afghan cricket team from the beginning. Rashid Latif and Inzamam-ul-Haq have trained the Afghan cricket team.

He said that in the difficult situation of Covid-19, the expenditure of the board has increased as more than 2000 Covid-19 tests have been conducted. “Hotel accommodation and air travel costs have all gone up, but we will not call it an expense, it is an investment, we will continue to invest because of cricket because this investment will benefit the country.

“We launched domestic cricket activities at the end of September, including under-19, series against Zimbabwe and PSL matches, which benefited the hotel industry,” he said. “Hotel industry experts tell us that they have secured 5,000 jobs in the current situation,” he added.

He said that the players and other people involved in sports activities stayed in five-star and four-star hotels, due to which the hotel business flourished.

Wasim said that PSL 6 and South African cricket team visit will also benefit the economy. “We will continue to contribute to the country’s economy,” he said.