KARACHI: Only political stability in the country can help Pakistan smash the unwanted tag of a cricketing pariah, says a senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official.
Saleem Altaf, the PCB chief operating officer, told Arab News that Pakistan has gone into ‘international isolation’ following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore earlier this month and prayed that it would end sooner than later.
“It is a problem that is not very simple,” said Altaf, a former Pakistan Test pacer, who finds himself at the centre of a damage control exercise following the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan team that left several people, mostly cops, dead.
“The rest of the world sees the situation in Pakistan as volatile and till that’s the case it’s very difficult for us to convince cricket teams that they should come here and play,” he stressed.
“Unless there is stability and political harmony, I’m afraid the perception about Pakistan is not going to change,” he added.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt is hoping that international cricket will return to Pakistan in the next six to nine months.
Altaf, however, is less hopeful.
He believes there is little hope that Pakistan will be able to host their only home series in the remaining part of the year — against New Zealand — in their own backyard.
“Our home series against New Zealand in November-December this year is very doubtful,” he said. “We will have to keep the option of playing it on a neutral venue open.”
It is expected that the series against New Zealand could be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi — the two venues that will be hosting Pakistan’s one-day series against Australia in April-May this year.
“It would be very difficult to find any other venues for the (New Zealand) series at that time of the year,” he said referring to the fact that England — Pakistan’s other neutral option — cannot host international cricket in winter.
According to Altaf it is a blessing in disguise that Pakistan do not have many home assignments for the next 12 months or so.
“Our only home series over the next year or so is against New Zealand,” he said referring to the fact that Pakistan were scheduled to play most of their cricket abroad because of the future tour program of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Pakistan will be touring Sri Lanka this summer after playing in the World Twenty20 Championship in England in June. They will feature in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa later this year and will then tour Australia from January next year to play three Tests and five One-day Internationals.
Altaf hoped that things in Pakistan would normalize next year. He recalled a statement by ICC President David Morgan, who has compared Pakistan’s situation with that of Ireland that was once a no-go zone because of its volatile situation in the past.
“Morgan has rightly pointed out that Pakistan’s current situation is not a permanent one,” said Altaf.
