Former West Indies batting legend and all time great Viv Richards has expressed his sadness over the prolonged absence of international cricket in Pakistan. International cricket was brought to a standstill in the south Asian country ever since the 2009 terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team. Zimbabwe finally made the courageous move and toured Pakistan in May 2015 for a limited overs series. However, there has been no further development in international cricket in Pakistan.
Richards, who serves as a mentor to one of the franchises in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) said that he always enjoyed touring Pakistan as a player. “It is painful to see no international cricket being played in Pakistan since 2009. I have been to Pakistan several times and always found it to be a country of passionate cricket fans and lovers,” Richards media persons in Dubai. “It is unfortunate that security circumstances are keeping teams away from Pakistan because it is a leading cricket nation and destination,” he said.
“It would have been great to have the PSL launch in Pakistan. But the good thing is that finally Pakistan has launched its own league and I don’t see any reason it shouldn’t succeed,” Richards added. Speaking of his own experiences in the past, Richards said, “Whenever I toured Pakistan I was always surprised to see the talent they possessed. I see the PSL as the biggest platform for the young players in Pakistan to showcase their talent to the world and also learn a lot after playing with top players of the world,” he added.
“When I was playing West Indies were at the top of the world but Pakistan, with their aggressive cricket and talent always, posed a big challenge for us,” he concluded.