The Pakistani public gets a rare glimpse of international cricket as stars from all over the world take on the home team in three T20s starting on Tuesday.
International cricket returns to Pakistan again tomorrow as the home side will be taking on a World XI in three T20s starting tomorrow. The team led by South African test captain Faf du Plessis landed in Lahore last night amid tight security.
The team consists of players from seven countries, including five South Africans in captain Faf, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel , Imran Tahir and David Miller. Other players on tour are Bangladesh all time leading run scorer, Tamim Iqbal, former England allrounder, Paul Collingwood , former West Indies T20 captain Darren Sammy and SA-born New Zealand allrounder Grant Elliot.
The tour is widely anticipated by the Pakistani public as they have been starved of international cricket over the last eight years. Since 2009 only Zimbabwe has toured Pakistan due to security concerns after Sri Lanka survived a terror attack when they toured there that year. An attack which injured several players, killing six officers and two civilians.
The touring party is coached by former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower.
“We are looking forward to seeing a lot of you watching the great cricket that we are going to put on show and we had a warm welcome already,” he said on arrival.
Unlike the last series involving the World XI these fixtures will not have T20 international status, meaning they will not count towards the players’ T20i records.
September 12: 1st T20, 4:45am
September 13: 2nd T20, 4:15am
September 15: 3rd T20, 4:15am
All matches are broadcast live on Supersport 2 (SS2).