No home cricket unfair to Pakistan, speaks Misbah-ul-Haq

Emphasising on the need of international cricket on home soil, Pakistan’s Test and ODI skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has said that it is very unfair to deprive his side of a chance to play competitive cricket in front of home crowd.

Due to security concerns, no international team has visited Pakistan since March 2009, and the Green Shirts have been playing their home series at United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"We are a big Test-playing country and it is not fair for us as well as for the other Test-playing countries and world cricket that we are not getting to stage international cricket," said Misbah.

"It is the responsibility of the cricket boards and their respective governments to come out with policies and ensure how teams can visit Pakistan in the future," he told the ‘Gulf News’ newspaper.

International teams decided not to come to Pakistan after the Sri Lankan side was attacked in Lahore, killing six policemen. A few visiting players also got injured. Since then, the Corner Tigers have been playing home series at neutral venues.

The skipper shared that despite no home cricket, the team has been performing brilliantly in the tough conditions, and deserves the credit. "It is a big dilemma and it is time the cricketing world comes together to push for international cricket in Pakistan,"
he added.

On Pakistan Premier League, he uttered, "The PPL will help in developing the temperament and skills of players. It will also throw up some new talent. The exposure the players will get will help them acquire professionalism. It is very important for Pakistan
to go for it."

The 38-year-old recently quit T20 captaincy, after which Mohammad Hafeez was given the reins. He failed to spark in the T20 series against Sri Lanka, but did well to take the side to the semi-final round of the World T20, which was eventually won by West
Indies.

Misbah’s plea for home cricket comes just a few days after Simon Taufel, who recently retired from umpiring, called for international to return to Pakistan. Recently, Sri Lankan cricket board has said that their team will visit Pakistan as soon as the security
situation improves.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=33958

Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Oct 12 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry