Pakistan a safe place to play international cricket, says Misbah-ul-Haq

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has desperately asked international sides to visit his country, as the Green Shirts have not played any cricket at home since 2009.

Since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan side, no side has visited Pakistan. The Men in Green are currently in South Africa to play a three-match Test series.

Urging the international sides to visit Pakistan, Misbah described that there are no security concerns in Pakistan, adding that as a big cricketing nation, his country deserves international cricket at home.

"Pakistan is such a big cricketing nation and the world has to think about bringing international cricket back to the country," the 38-year-old right-hand batsman said.

"A Twenty20 tournament in Pakistan saw full stadiums for every game and there were no security concerns. The people should have international cricket," he told a news conference.

Team manager Naveed Akram also endorsed Misbah’s views, saying that the security situation in Pakistan is much better than now. He shared:

"It is very difficult when you are not playing a format on a regular basis — you really have to work hard. You could say it is a limitation for us, but we are professionals and have to do well. We play only about five or six Tests a year while other countries
play 15 or 16 a year. This really does affect our team," he said before the first Test at Johannesburg, getting started on February 1^st.

Pakistan is scheduled to meet the Proteas in three Tests, ahead of a couple of Twentry20 matches followed by a five-game ODI series.

South Africa is also due to visit Pakistan later this year, as the series is scheduled to be held in UAE. However, the South African board has given a hope to Pakistan, saying that they will send a security team to Pakistan, and if the team shows satisfaction
over the security, the side will visit the country.

The Cornered Tigers are full of confidence after beating India in the limited-over series in India. But the task is even bigger in South Africa, as the home side is currently on top of the ICC Test rankings.

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Jan 22 2013. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry