PAK vs SL 2017: I Hope The Sri Lankan Team Will Visit Pakistan, Says Sarfraz Ahmed
Oct 16, 2017 at 1:05 PM
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is hopeful Sri Lanka will visit Lahore later this month for the scheduled third and final T20I. If Upul Tharanga & Co. agree to tour Pakistan, it will be a big step towards the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. However, as of now, there are doubts over it as 40 contracted players have written to Sri Lanka Cricket, expressing their concerns over visiting Pakistan.
No team except for Zimbabwe in 2015, had visited Pakistan since 2009 when the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by militants in Lahore when the players were headed towards the Gadaffi Stadium for the third day’s play. However, there has been a welcome change this year as several international stars have visited Pakistan in 2017. At the start of the year, the final of the Pakistan Super League was staged in Lahore before the International Cricket Council sent a star-studded World XI side last month for a three-match T20I series.
And with Pakistan successfully staging all the games, Sarfraz insisted that the security has improved in his country and is hopeful that the Islanders would visit Lahore.
“The security has improved in Pakistan. I hope the Sri Lankan team will come. I don’t know what the latest is but Thisara Perera was in Lahore last month with the World XI,” Sarfraz told journalists.
The Pakistan skipper further said his team is looking to continue the winning streak in the ODIs after the comprehensive win in the series-opener.
“We did well in the first ODI in all three departments. The expectations are high for the second game. We have done well in our preparations and are looking forward for a good contest,” Sarfraz said.
At the same time, the wicketkeeper-batsman singled out some mistakes that the reigning Champions Trophy-winners will look to correct in the forthcoming game.
“There are still a few things to address. We missed a few things in the first ten overs in the last game. We didn’t take too many singles and that’s something that we need to address. But other than that, it was good overall performance,” he said.
Sarfraz also spoke on the reason behind the team management’s decision to give longer ropes to youngsters.
“It’s important to build towards that World Cup, which is less than two years away. We are giving regular chances to youngsters and that will be the key. The World Cup is not far away and we need keep building towards that,” he explained.
The second and third game will be played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday (October 16), and Wednesday (October 18) respectively before the teams move to Sharjah for the last two games.