End of cricket isolation?

The ghost of 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus still haunts Pakistan as the country’s cricket board tries its best to end the isolation and the recent tour of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Pakistan Task Force chairman Giles Clarke seems like the first step towards the reconciliation process.

If we evaluate the current situation, after the announcement of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) final in Lahore by chairman Najam Sethi, the signs of things to come do not look bleak, instead, for the first time in seven years, a shimmer of light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.

While Clarke told everyone not to rush things forward, he was very welcoming to the idea of Pakistan holding the final of its domestic T20 competition in front of their home crowd in Lahore.

However, without taking any credit away from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the security situation in the country is still dubious.

Why? The first-ever international team to visit Pakistan after the forgettable Sri Lankan incident was Zimbabwe and everyone remembers there was attempt to sabotage PCB’s image with a failed attack.

Also, Clarke, in his address to the media, mentioned the blast in Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal park where nearly 72 people died which later became a reason for MCC to say no to a tour to Pakistan. As things stand, Pakistan’s presentation on the security of foreign teams and their players did satisfy Clarke but he was quite eager to mention that he is not the final authority to decide if the country is safe or not. The security advisors, who accompanied him, will be preparing the final verdict.

However, on the bright side, this is the first time that the head of the task force which is meant to help Pakistan fill up its coffers in the absence of international cricket and also ascertain significant security for visiting teams made a trip to the country.

Things are looking bright for the return of international cricket, and we hope it stays that way. Fingers crossed!

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2017.

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