Pakistan Not To Play Home Games In UAE Anymore, Says PCB CEO Wasim Khan

It has been over a decade and Pakistan still cannot afford the luxury of playing in their own backyard. The threat of terrorism in Pakistan has prevented the teams from visiting the country. Pakistan has not hosted a Test at home since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team.

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Since that attack, Pakistan were compelled to shift their base to United Arab Emirates. Things have been promising in recent years. Since 2015,  Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and an ICC World XI have visited Pakistan. In addition, the Pakistan Super League has seen games hosted in Pakistan too. Later this month, Pakistan will host Sri Lanka once again for three ODIs and as many T20Is.

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And ahead of the series, Pakistan Cricket Board CEO Wasim Khan has said playing their home matches in the United Arab Emirates is “not an option anymore”. Khan said that hosting games in UAE has cost the board a lot of money. With the security situation in Pakistan now improving, he is confident of the country hosting the games on a regular basis again.

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“It costs us a lot of money hosting there,” the chief executive officer said before adding: “Frankly speaking the security situation has improved in Pakistan and security experts have also assessed that we are in a position to manage security risks while hosting teams in the country.”

He further said that the PCB has not paid any money to Sri Lanka Cricket for its tour to Karachi and Lahore. Khan told the media that since the PCB now wants to see Pakistan playing all their home Test and limited over series in Pakistan, it was trying to convince other boards to start sending their teams to the country. Recently, Cricket Australia representatives had visited Pakistan too in order to see the security arrangements.

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