As elated as one might seem on the return of the game to Pakistani shores, but one also has to admit that it came at an individual cost. The series between World XI and Pakistan firstly had to go through a lot of trials and tribulations in the first place. And when finally the series was announced, contrary to the expectations that the best “World XI” would be selected, an array of individuals were selected, who don’t typically draw significant attention from the crowd.
Among the squad members were mostly players, who are no longer first choice in their respective national teams. Some of them had even retired from international cricket and came back just for this tour. So the question remains, how ready exactly is Pakistan to host another international side anytime soon?
The answer to that is a little complicated given the amount of security deployed for the recently concluded series. Due to as many as 5000 security personnel being deployed and constant curfews being imposed, life in and around and Gadaffi Stadium did come to a halt. This presented with severe challenges to the local population as daily activities were up for a toss.
It’s a no-brainer to state that for any international team visiting Pakistan, the security would very much remain on similar lines. Thereby, is the PCB willing to disrupt normal life in Lahore for every team that tours Pakistan?
This was summed up perfectly by a local Pakistani journalist, who was quoted saying:
“However, was the World XI tour the return of international cricket in any real sense? The involvement of a smattering of big names of world cricket may have given the impression that it was, and choosing the same venue from where the flight of international cricket started gave the World XI tour a degree of credibility. But one can’t ignore the fact that the World XI that played the T20I series on Pakistani soil wasn’t exactly a galaxy of superstars.”