By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan is all set to show the cricketing world that it is safe to play international matches in the country by staging a three-game Twenty20 international series against a World XI in eastern city of Lahore from Tuesday.
Only Zimbabwe has toured Pakistan — for a short, limited-overs series two years ago — since terrorists attacked a Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore on March 3, 2009.
The World XI tour is a major breakthrough for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which had been working to attract international cricket to the country.
Since 2009, Pakistan has played most of its home matches in the United Arab Emirates, including a 2-0 Test series win over Australia in 2014, and also staged two editions of its premier domestic T20 tournament — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — in the UAE.
The successful hosting of the PSL final at Lahore earlier this year gave the PCB enough confidence to schedule a T20 series against the World XI in collaboration with the International Cricket Council.
The PCB has high hopes for the series. It has already scheduled a Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka in October, subject to security clearance, and a three-match T20 series against the West Indies in November is also in the pipeline.
Both federal and Punjab provincial governments promised foolproof security for the World XI. Several thousand security officials are expected to be deployed over the next five days and spectators have to stand in long lines at several security checkpoints before entering the Gaddafi Stadium.
Hundreds of fans were turned away on Sunday after the cheapest RS 500 ($5) tickets had sold out, leaving only the premium Rs 6000( $60) and Rs 8000 ( $80) seats still available for the three games.
