Zimbabwe Cricket chairman urges other countries to play in Pakistan, says it's safe

Lahore, May 26: Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Wilson Manase has given a clean chit to Pakistan as a host to international matches after his country visited here for a small tour of five games. Manase urged Test-playing nations to visit Pakistan where international cricket returned after 2009, when a visiting Sri Lankan team faced a horrible terrorist attack in the middle of a Test match in Karachi. [We want to create a pool of T20 players, says Pak chief selector]

Pakistan consequently lost the rights to co-host the ICC World Cup in 2011 and played their home matches in the United Arab Emirates. [Shoaib Malik, Sami make a comeback]

The International Cricket Council also refused to send its officials to the troubled country for the ongoing Zimbabwe series.

Manase, however, took an initiative the turn things around by conveying a positive signal about the situation in Pakistan, He said Zimbabwe's defence officials gave the nod to the series and he was satisfied to see the tight security arrangements during the two T20 internationals played between the two sides. No trouble was reported during these two matches that Pakistan won.

The two teams will now play a three-match one-day series starting Tuesday. All the five matches of the tour are being played at the Gaddafi Stadium here.

Describing Lahore to be different than Karachi, Manase added that the ICC should reconsider its stand against visiting Pakistan and praised Pakistani authorities for creating an ambience of safety. He also said that Zimbabwe had no hesitation in playing the series on the Pakistani soil.

Oneindia News