LAHORE – Newly elected Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi vowed on Wednesday to bring international cricket back to Pakistan after years of isolation following an attack on Sri-Lankan team in Lahore.
Sethi made these remarks after being elected unopposed as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a three-year term by the Board of Governors.
The new chief, whose first term as chairman in 2013 was marred by the court said bringing international cricket back to Pakistan would be challenging but a worthwhile goal.
“We need to show patience because it is related to the security situation in the country,” Sethi told newsmen.
The journalist-cum-PCB head said he hoped the planned World XI tour next month would pave the way for future competition in the country.
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“We hope to bring a World XI for a three-match Twenty20 series and the next two-three months will bring more good news,” he said.
“We have so many challenges ahead and bringing international cricket back to the country is one of them. There are 13 cricket-playing nations and we want at least half of them to visit and play in Pakistan. Although it is a tough task, yet we will achieve it with sheer hard work and determination,” he observed
Sethi who has been under constant flak for his role in the country’s cricket board said he will also attend an Asian Cricket Council meeting in Colombo on Saturday in a bid to lure Sri Lankan team to visit Pakistan.
“We have invited Sri Lanka to play a few matches after their series with us and I will try to get a reply on that invitation,” added Sethi.
It bears mentioning that Pakistan has not hosted any international tour since a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked near Lahore’s Liberty Square in 2009.
Only the Zimbabwean team visited Pakistan in 2015 but the tour did not get much attention overall.
Najam Sethi who also served as the chairman of Pakistan Super League was successful in organizing the mega show of PSL final in Lahore.
With the successful and peaceful conclusion of event, cricket fans lavished praise on the chairman and urged him to continue his efforts for bringing back international cricket home.
