‘More team will come to Pak now’

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan is optimistic that once Zimbabwe completes the tour of Pakistan successfully, it will open the doors for more Test teams to visit the country.

Zimbabwe, which has become the first Test side to tour Pakistan in six years, brings back international cricket to the country when it plays the first of two T20 matches at the Gaddafi stadium on Friday.

“There is a lot of anticipation for this series as we are hopeful it will open doors for more tours in the future,” the PCB chief said.

“More importantly it will also allow us and the government and security agencies to practically assess what more can be done to make touring <g data-gr-id="22">sides</g> more secure,” he added.

Khan said Pakistan’s aim was to host bigger teams in the future and the PCB was looking for more support from the Asian continent.

“India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all need to give us more support to help us bring back regular international cricket to Pakistan,” he added.

Khan was also optimistic the series of two T20 matches and three ODIs would be well received by the fans who will come out in big numbers to watch the matches.

He said stringent security measures were necessary to make the teams feel safe and fans might have to put up with some inconvenience.

“Zimbabwe has given us a lot of support by undertaking this tour despite pressure on them so we also urge the public to cheer <g data-gr-id="23">team</g> along with our team as well,” he added.