Sami Chaudhry's column on Pakistan vs West Indies: 'Pakistan is a safe country for cricket'

 BBC News

Two months ago, when New Zealand canceled the tour of Pakistan on the same occasion, once again dark clouds of uncertainty were hovering over Pakistan cricket. After a week, when England also followed the Kiwis, it was feared that all the efforts to revive cricket over the years might be in vain.

But with the arrival of the West Indies in Pakistan, all such doubts have been dispelled. After an apology from the Kiwis and assurances from England, Pakistan now has confidence that its efforts will continue to be fruitful.

The most significant role in the revival of international cricket in Pakistan has been played by the West Indies which is the most visited team in Pakistan after the revival of international cricket.

Moreover, every time the West Indies cricket team visited Pakistan since then, it was deprived of its

strongest selection. Due to the refusal of many senior players, West Indies have had to settle for their second choice XI.

This time too it is the same. West Indies captain Nicholas Poorn is out with captain Karen Pollard's injury and veteran all-rounder Andre Russell is also out due to his involvement in the Big Bash League, in addition to Jason Holder and Fabian Allen.

In these circumstances, although the recent tour of West Indies is very important for the continuity of cricket in Pakistan, but due to the loss of their best team, they are far behind Pakistan in terms of competitiveness.

However, the same analysis was made when a freshman XI from Sri Lanka came up against Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium two years ago and beat all odds, leaving the No. 1 Twenty20 team in the throes of a clean sweep at home. Was gone

But it would be premature to say anything about these new faces of West Indies as the morale of the Pakistan camp is very high now after the World Cup and then the tour of Bangladesh. Is.

On the other hand, after the devastating performance in the World Cup, the West Indies now have to make preparations for the next world event and run for the title in Australian conditions in less than a year and now in the absence of their star performers. This will not be an easy task.

In such a scenario, West Indies will hope that this new talent selected from the Caribbean Premier League will surprise many fans and play competitive cricket while Babar Azam will expect that under his leadership this T20 team will have a similarly winning record. Make what was special to Sarfraz's team before that.

Karachi's wicket is generally balanced and equally conducive to batting and bowling. As the working hours of the match have been fixed according to the season, there will be no possibility of affecting the balance of the match due to dew.

The fears that plagued Pakistan cricket two months ago will be allayed this evening and Pakistan will once again prove that it is a safe country for cricket by hosting international cricket.