Bringing Test cricket to Pakistan next up on PCB's agenda

Published March 11, 2019
A sources in the PCB claims that the board hopes to host Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at home later this year. — AFP/File
A sources in the PCB claims that the board hopes to host Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at home later this year. — AFP/File

Buoyed by hosting the first few matches of Pakistan Super League 2019's Karachi leg, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning to bring back Test cricket to the country.

A source within the PCB told DawnNewsTV that the board is hoping to host most of the national team's matches from the October series against Sri Lanka in Pakistan.

"We are planning to host most of the matches from that series in Pakistan. Along with some T20 matches, our main focus is on the return of Test cricket to Pakistan after a 10-year hiatus," the source said.

PCB has had a torrid time convincing other Test playing nations to visit Pakistan since the infamous 2009 attack when a dozen gunmen fired on the Sri Lankan team's bus during the second Test in Lahore. The dastardly terrorist attack left six of the visiting players wounded and eight others, including two civilians, dead.

Pakistan, however, has come a long way since then. In 2018, the country hosted its first T20I at home in nine years.

The source further said that PCB also plans on proposing a Pakistan-based ODI or T20I series to the Bangladeshi board.

"President of Bangladesh Cricket board Nazmul Hasan has been invited by PCB to watch several PSL matches, as well as the final. The PCB will ask him to send the Bangladesh cricket team to Pakistan later this year," the source said, adding that the Bangladesh women and youth teams are also expected to visit Pakistan this year.

Opinion

Editorial

Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...
Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....