ISLAMABAD: Sarfraz Nawaz believes a home series with India following the Bangladesh team's tour to Pakistan later this month will help put an end to the drought of international cricket in the country.
The Bangladesh team will be touring Pakistan to play a One Day (April 29) and a Twenty-20 (April 30) at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team Pakistan has been forced to play its home series on the neutral venues of England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan also lost its right to host the 2011 ICC World Cup, which was eventually played in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Talking to APP on Tuesday, Sarfraz while prasing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), chairman, Zaka Ashraf efforts in bringing international cricket home, said it is a major breakthrough and good news for the nation who have been deprived of international game for the last three years.
"The chairman PCB is also in talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for having a Pakistan-India bilateral series in India or here," the pacer said adding that if this series against India would take place in Pakistan prove fruitful for both the countries.
Sarfraz said he hopes the Bangladesh team's tour here would be a successful one. "This will send a positive message to the international community that Pakistan is a safe place to play and more international teams would be attracted to play here," Sarfraz, who discovered reverse swing said.
Commenting on PCB looking for options to launch Pakistan Premier League (PPL) soon, Sarfraz said from the moment the board announced its intent to organise the country's first Twenty-20 League, many foreign players have shown interest in the idea and are keen to participate. "If PPL happens it will definitely be a treat to watch," Sarfraz said.
Sarfraz while supporting the view to have separate Pakistan ODI, T-20 and Test teams said, "There should be one captain for ODI and T-20 teams while for test team there should be a separate one."
When asked regarding reports of Super 8s, Sailkot Stallions winning skipper Shoaib Malik chances to be named as captain for the shorter formats of the game, Sarfraz said, he doesn't see a good skipper in Shoaib.
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