Any minor incident would have led back cricket to square one
HANGU: The recently-held matches of the third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Pakistan somehow led to the revival of cricket in Pakistan. International players also participated in the event. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) organising the PSL failed to persuade all the international players to come to Pakistan as some players refused to participate in the matches that were played in Lahore and Karachi. Their perception regarding security threat is true. Just before the semi-final matches, a blast occurred in Quetta and killed 10 people and injured another dozen of people. It negatively impacted the effort made by the PCB and security establishment.
The other thing, which also raises many questions in the minds of international players, is the tight security arrangement that indicates the fact that all is not normal. God forbid, if anything had happened, it would have tarnished the country’s image and pushed back all the efforts made by the PCB and the government in bringing back international cricket to the country. Any minor incident would have led back cricket to square one.
Muhammad Arafat
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2018.
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