Holds an important meeting with the Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah
KARACHI Oct 18 (TNS): Chairman PCB Najam Sethi has stated that PCB is trying to hold two to four Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches in Karachi and will invite foreign security experts to Karachi to oversee arrangements in the city.
Sethi arrived in Karachi late on Tuesday night and held an important meeting with the Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah, in which he mainly discussed on security and coordination of police with Rangers and Army for the PSL matches in Karachi.
“I tried to convince all parties to play in Karachi, CM and Rangers for security, franchises for foreign players, ICC security firm for green light and authorities to complete work in National Stadium within due time,” Sethi told media in Karachi.
“We wanted to bring foreign security experts to Karachi, before that I needed to discuss plans with CM to activate LEAs for security arrangements,” he said.
The chairman PCB added that he’s aiming to hold two to four PSL matches in Karachi but for that, the security arrangement and the condition of the stadium are also important.
“I will also see where the work at National stadium stands, and if we’ll be capable of completing it within four months’ time,” he said.
He also brushed aside negative reports regarding the arrival of Sri Lankan team and said that the visitors will field a full-strength team for the T20 series.
“Not only players, but SLC officials are also coming. We will also host a meeting of ACC’s development committee ahead of the match in Lahore and delegates from different countries will participate in that meeting,” said the chairman PCB.
He highlighted that the PSL final in Lahore encouraged the World-XI team to undertake Pakistan tour, and the successful tour by the World XI team encouraged Sri Lanka on agreeing to visit Pakistan this month.
“A video briefing was provided by security experts to ICC during the meeting in Auckland, regarding our arrangements in Lahore, and everyone was impressed to see our arrangements,” he said.
“Even the security experts said that they’ve never seen such foolproof security ever in the world,” added the chairman PCB.
Sethi said that the report by these experts brushed asides all the doubts in other member boards and they made the commitment to tour Pakistan.
“Sri Lanka and West Indies said that they’re a bit uncertain before but the report made them convinced and they agreed to tour Pakistan,” he said.
