Najam Sethi, the PCB’s restored chief, said on Thursday that his board is inviting Sri Lanka to play a home series, five years after they survived a terrorist attack on their bus outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The move by the PCB came two days after Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse promised his Pakistan counterpart, Mamnoon Hussain, that he would send his team over, on the sidelines of a summit in China.
“We are sending a letter of invitation to Sri Lanka Cricket today after their president promised to send his country’s cricket team to Pakistan, and we hope for a positive outcome,” Sethi told a press conference.
No Full Member team has toured Pakistan since militants attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore, in March 2009, in which several cricketers were injured, including Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana. Six security men and two civilians were killed.
“We are ready to host them, have mentioned the gap in our cricket commitments and want to use this opportunity,” said Sethi. “Our top priority is to host an international team and we are making efforts for that.”
Sethi was holding his first press conference since being restored as chairman of the PCB management committee by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, four days after a Islamabad high court ruling suspended him and reinstated Zaka Ashraf.
Since the 2009 attacks Pakistan have been forced to play their home series in the UAE. Bangladesh twice agreed to play short limited-over series in Pakistan to end their isolation but each time backed out for security reasons.
Pakistan is set to tour Sri Lanka in August to play two Tests and three one-day internationals. They will then host Australia and New Zealand in the UAE from October 3 to December 19. They are scheduled to host Zimbabwe in December to January, but that period could be utilised to host Sri Lanka.
