Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials hope to host a full series by 2020 after a successful tour by Windies that sparked a hope for international revival in the politically-troubled country.
The Windies team visited for a three-match series against Pakistan in Karachi. The fans turned up in huge numbers to thank the Windies fans.
Last month, Karachi also hosted the final of popular Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Moreover, this is the biggest cricketing event in the city since a 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
Since the incident broke out, international teams have refrained away from touring Pakistan.
As a result, Pakistan played their home games in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
But with security dramatically improving in the last three years, PCB chief Najam Sethi said that they are gradually trying to bring cricket back on regular basis.
“They are bearing positive results,” he told AFP.
“We will host more PSL matches next year and by that time almost all the top international players from top cricketing nations will have played in Pakistan. Then we can convince their boards to send national teams for a full series to Pakistan in 2020,” he added.
Meanwhile, security remained an enormous issue, however, with massive, head-of-state level arrangements made for each visit.
Eventually, a security company appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) under its Pakistan Task Team had has given the green signal for the recently completed matches.
“We realised that matches caused inconvenience for Lahorites and Karachiites, but they were a big gain for Pakistan,” Sethi added.
Now the PCB is setting its sights on bigger teams, with hopes that sides such as South Africa could tour by next year.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has also invited the England team to come.
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