5 positives for Pakistan after the World XI series
Cricket finally returned to Pakistan, after the finals of the PSL was played at Lahore. A World XI team coached by Andy Flower, boasting of some of the best players from the world participated in a 3 match T20I series.
More than the cricket, the fact that cricket boards across the globe are slowly willing to send players to play in Pakistan is a huge step in the right direction for Pakistan cricket. Amidst tight security, bearing the treacherous heat, over 60,000 fans turned up at the Gadafi Stadium at Lahore to witness this series.
The return of cricket to Pakistan, with hope of more cricket there soon is a promising sign for world cricket. There were other positives as well for Pakistan from this series, here’s looking at them:
Cricket returns to Pakistan, with the hope to return full-time
A lot has been said about cricket returning to Pakistan again for this series against World X1. The fact that cricketing boards across the globe felt assured of the security measures put in place is promising signs for world cricket.
Heightened security measures were put in place to make sure this tournament went out smoothly. Over 16,000 security personnel were placed at the Gadaffi Stadium. And many of the players from the World X1 team were happy with the security and they urged more teams to come and play in Pakistan.
After the terrorist attack in 2009, post which Pakistan played their home games in the UAE, the successful completion of a hard fought T20I series is very good news indeed. Sarfraz Ahmed, the skipper of the host nation thanked the boards for allowing top quality players to participate in this tournament.
One of the biggest positive was to see mostly world class, and players who are still actively playing the game take part in the tournament. This encouraged more crowds to come in to the stadiums thereby making this series even more memorable.
With no security lapses or glitches, and with Pakistan expected to host Sri Lanka and West Indies soon, it looks like there won’t be too many hassles in making that happen. Once more teams come and play in Pakistan, it would rejuvenate cricket in the country.