West Indies To Tour Pakistan In April For Three T20Is

West Indies are set to visit Pakistan next month for a three-match T20I series. The games are likely to be played on April 1, 2 and 4 in Karachi. The news was confirmed by Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi on Sunday(March 11).

The tour was initially scheduled to take place in November last year. It was then postponed to late March due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and has now been postponed further by a couple of days. There has also been a shift in venue. The games were initially scheduled to be played in Lahore but now Karachi will host the games.

The upcoming games will be the first international games in Karachi since the 2009 attacks on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.  Since then Pakistan had to play nearly all of their “home” matches in the UAE. However, things are changing for the good in recent times. Since 2015, Zimbabwe, a World XI, and most recently Sri Lanka toured Pakistan. However, all the games were played in Lahore.

“I have been working day and night to conclude an agreement with West Indies which I have just finalised an hour ago,” Sethi said. “Good news is that West Indies will play three games, on [April, 1, 2 and 4], but these matches will be played in Karachi. They will not play in Lahore but in Karachi. That is how we intend to put Karachi back on the cricket map once again. The PSL final, and now three more games for Karachi as per routine. Karachi people should welcome this.”

Sethi said Reg Dickason, the ICC’s security consultant, would visit Karachi during the PSL final to check out the security arrangements for the West Indies series.

“Reg Dickason and his men will be here during the PSL final and we have contracted them to oversee the West Indies games as well,” Sethi said. “Their expert will stay back for seven days and conduct the security for West Indies series. This is part of our agreement with the West Indies board. This will be a one-off series, since, as I told you before, it will be a loss-making enterprise. The idea wasn’t to make money; it was to bring cricket back, so this is a step in that direction.

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