Former Pakistan skipper Aamer Sohail in his column for PakPassion revealed there is a much more to be done and improved in the embattled country after World XI’s successful tour to Pakistan in September, to resume the international cricketing ties in the country.
“We will need to create such conditions before all foreign teams will consider touring Pakistan again,” Sohail told PakPassion.
In his thought process, the ex-left-handed batsman Sohail stated there is an undying passion for the gentleman’s game among cricket fanatics in Pakistan and it was a watershed moment to witness the three-match Twenty20 series for the Independence Cup 2017 which hosts eventually won by 2-1 under the leadership of Sarfraz Ahmed.
“Like all Pakistanis, I think that the World XI’s visit to Pakistan was a good start to what I feel is a long journey to the complete restoration of international cricket in the country,” Sohail added.
Sohail also posed a serious question for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) while asking about the security situation prevailing in the country, as he added if the Board is not solely relying on taking the ‘general security’ into consideration why they are bothering to offer the top-flight teams.
“If the PCB feel that they cannot control the general security situation in the country which prevents them from offering normal touring conditions for the touring teams then why are they trying to bring international cricket back to Pakistan?,” Sohail concluded.
Sohail, who suggested Ahmed Shehzad to be consistent to rise among the ranks, has admired the former Pakistan chairman Zaka Ashraf, who played a pivotal role while convincing the task force committee from the ICC World governing body when international cricket was halted due to the gruesome attack on Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 at Liberty Chowk in Lahore.
“If we are to look for people to credit for the return of international cricket in Pakistan, we must start with Zaka Ashraf who was instrumental in the creation of the ICC Task force for Pakistan,” Sohail asserted.
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Sohail, who represented Pakistan Sohail, played 156 One-day internationals and 47 Tests for Pakistan between 1990 and 2000, reiterated Pakistan has to provide a comfort zone to impress the west-bound teams like Australia for instance.
“What we need to do now is to create comfort levels for teams such as Australia who last toured Pakistan in 1998 to be able to consider another visit to the country,” Sohail further added.
While talking about the return of top-level cricket in Pakistan, Sohail has lauded the untiring efforts of newly-appointed PCB chief Najam Sethi and former chairman Shaharyar Khan.
“More work on this was then carried on by Shaharyar Khan and Najam Sethi was lucky enough to actually execute the final part of this assignment,” Sohail said.
After the friendly gesture from the 14-member World XI squad, Pakistan is eyeing to host Sri Lanka and then Windies which would be interesting on its part owing to the financial terms.
“The PCB now have to use this goodwill and develop this further and whilst its fine to offer financial incentives to visiting teams for one or two games,” Sohail further said.
Interestingly, Sohail, who was happy with Babar Azam’s performance, believes the successful conduction of the grand finale of the second edition of the widely-acclaimed Pakistan Super League (PSL), was a massive achievement only after the intervention of the foolproof security.
“I really feel that the PCB Chairman should have given credit to all his predecessors for this achievement. That created the momentum which resulted in the World XI’s visit to Pakistan,” Sohail concluded.
The left-handed batsman Sohail during his international career scored at the average of 35.28 in Tests, and 31.86 in ODIs.