There is news circulating in the sports circle that finally after 8 years, an international team is willing to play cricket with Pakistan on its home ground. The team is none other than Sri Lanka which was attacked and that was the last time Pakistani grounds witnessed international games.
The Sri Lankan chief of cricket board has confirmed the news and stated that only after a stringent security assessment, the committee in the board would decide about sending the team to Pakistan. If hearsay is to be considered true, the agreement has been done for 3 T2o cricket matches and one of the matches would be played in Lahore where 8 years back, the disastrous event took place in which at least 8 Sri Lankan players were injured.
Since 2009, leading cricket nations simply refused to play on the soil of Pakistan. Despite agreement with India during the time of Big Three formation, the Indian government refused to give a permit to its national team for playing in Pakistan.
The only team to visit Pakistan in these years has been Zimbabwe which played 5 ODIs back in 2015. Pakistan has been since then playing on the grounds of UAE as its home grounds against other countries. The long streak of barren and desolated grounds ended last year when Pakistan Super League’s final was held in Lahore where eminent players of West Indies and other nations played in the internal league hosted by Pakistan.
Thilanga Sumathipala, the President of Sri Lankan cricket board, requested other nations to step forward in ending the isolation of Pakistan and take effective measures to ensure the revival of cricket. He further stated that during 1990s when Sri Lanka was on the verge of internal war, it was Pakistani team that came to play with them.
Pakistan celebrated its 71st birthday today on 14th of August, this news has instilled hope and sense of exhilaration in the country where seldom good news could be heard. The nation is on the path to flourishing in terms of economic stability and political stability.
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