PCB changes dates for West Indies series in Pakistan, matches on 1/2/3 April in Karachi [Update #17]

[MenInG]

Najam Sethi speaking in a presser in Dubai

"I will tell you why that is; I have been working day and night to negotiate with the CWI which I have concluded just an hour ago"

"The good news is that and we have come to an agreement that WI that they will play 3 T20Is, as announced before, on 1st ,2nd and 4th April "

"These matches will be held in Karachi"

"The PSL games will be held in Lahore and the final in Karachi"

"The Karachi people should welcome this as should all of Pakistan"

"There is a perception that stadiums are empty and that is true to a certain extent"

"But when we compare it to PSL & PSL 2, the data shows that the picture (of attendances) in Dubai is same as last year and its better than last year in Sharjah"

"Then it comes to the idea that we haven't made much efforts in marketing etc? the answer is No"

"There was a possibility that we could get labourers and others for free but that is not possible as we arent allowed to give away free tickets"

"We have been given free buses by Dubai authorities and even after that we are not seeing that kind of response which we expected"

"We didnt consider Abu Dhabi as a venue as the production expenses in 3 venues is about 6-700k USD"

"We have made a formal statement that we will be making a determined effort to take PSL to Pakistan ASAP"

"What does ASAP mean? It can mean next year or the year after"

"I have told my infrastructure guys that the Karachi and 'Pindi stadiums should be fully prepared as Multan and Lahore already ready - Karachi we already know is not fully ready , as you all know"

"We had to take a bitter pill for Karachi as the demand was so much"

"WE wanted to show the world that Karachi is a safe city and thats why we wanted to play there"

"Thats why we have cut corners and got Karachi ready"

"Some people are worried that there is no Chairman's box at NSK, so what? I will go and sit somewhere in front"

"There is nothing to worry about, I had told you there would be a match there and Inshallah its happening there"

"WE have contracted Reg Dickason to oversee the WI tour as well"

"This is a one off tour as its a loss making enterprise; the idea is not to make or lose money but idea was to bring cricket back"

 

[babajee]

Brilliant news.

 

[shokz1408]

Woohoo I'm looking forward to this, only a few weeks away!

We have a strong T20 team, with so many bowling options.
Looking across the PSL, it is mostly the pakistani bowlers who stand out.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Would have preferred odis

 

[sjahmed23]

Good job Sethi saab. You are doing a good job, hopefully it all goes through as planned and turns out to be successful.

 

[Hasan123]

Good news. Would have preferred to play ODIs instead though.

 

[coy0607]

really awesome news

ODIs would have been better, but T20 will be good too - hopefully a chance to test out some of the new talent from PSL (hopefully we don't see the likes of Hafeez, Shehzad, Akmal, Wahab...)

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Great news!

But let us not count our chickens before they have hatched.

Sethi Saab has made comments like these before and nothing has come of them.

Hoping it does happen, will wait for the CWI board to confirm as well. Would have been nice if they played one T20 in Lahore as well.

 

[Test champion]

Hope it's not April fool

 

[starbuck]

That's great news for Pakistan cricket

 

[Kroll]

 

[IAJ]

Really happy for Karachi! I like the wicket as well.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Batting paradise.

 

[aloo paratha]

If the pitch is batting friendly I wouldn't even be surprised if we lose. We have always won T20s with our spinners on slow wickets. In batting we have to hope fakhar fires every game.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Amazing news.Can’t wait!!My mocks are going to be held at that time but I don’t care.Going to go to all 3

 

[PakLFC]

Good to know the matches will be played in Karachi instead of Punjab. Time to prove that other parts of the country are safe as well. Pak fans will remember this courageous gesture by the West Indian side. Like the Sri Lankans they too have always been good to us. I agree, proper one day matches would have been better nevertheless it's a start.

 

[MenInG]

The West Indies will play 3 T20 matches with Pakistan in National Stadium Karachi on 1st, 2nd and 3rd April 2018.

The dates have been adjusted so that there is no match on the occasion of Barsi of ex PM of Pakistan Mr Z A Bhutto on April 4th.

This has been done on the request of Sindh Government.

 

[MenInG]

Just hope no one gets injured playing 3 games in a row

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Wow 3 matches in 3 days is overkill,even for T20I’s

 

[Abdullah719]

3 games in 3 days is strange. They could have pushed the first two back one day if they had to play on the 3rd, surely?

 

[j_kazmi]

So what if it’s Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s death anniversary. He died almost 40 years ago.

It’s fine if we play a match on that day, he was a PM not a saint or a prohpet.

 

[coy0607]

Just hope no one gets injured playing 3 games in a row

no bowler wil bowl over 12 over, and no batsmen will likely play more than 25 overs over the 3 days

thats not even the equivalent of a single day of test cricket - I wouldn't worry about any injuries due to workload

 

[DeadBall]

no bowler wil bowl over 12 over, and no batsmen will likely play more than 25 overs over the 3 days

thats not even the equivalent of a single day of test cricket - I wouldn't worry about any injuries due to workload

Yeah but it's not the same intensity as Tests. As a bowler you have to bowl your heart out at optimal pace in the 4 allotted overs and as a batsman you have to look to score off every ball, run hard and basically use every single opportunity unlike Tests where you can just let them go.

 

[angrypathan]

Just hold the 3rd match on the 5th? or the first match on the 31st of March.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

As much as I have my differences with what Sethi did during the 2013 elections (debatable) I have to say that this man has raised the bar, in terms of performance and achievement, when it comes to being the PCB chairman.

His successor would need to literally do a lot in his / her tenure if he/she might be considered someone of equal measure. The next step should be to get matches done in Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Faislabad and Abbotabad/Gunjrawala

We need to bring cricket back home by 2022/2023 completely and now I believe there should be a short multi-city tour between Karachi/Lahore with ODIs, T20s and a solitary test. Ireland, Afghanistan or even the West Indies could be potential teams that could be persuaded.

 

[imshally81]

Great News for Pakistan Cricket...

 

[Madplayer]

Could have adjusted 2 games on 1 day easily. One in morning and another in evening

 

[Amjid Javed]

3 games in 3 days, should be interesting.

 

[MenInG]

3 games in 3 days, should be interesting.

Back breaking for some bowlers.

On another note....

Seems PCB have slashed ticket prices for the West Indies series.

 

[UN talkz]

3 games in 3 days

 

[SM1989]

3 games in 3 days

If players can play test match cricket, then 3 T20 games on the trott shouldn't be so bad.

 

[UN talkz]

If players can play test match cricket, then 3 T20 games on the trott shouldn't be so bad.

That's why Test cricket is Best and real test of a player
These T20 mercenaries aren't used to that stuff and we will see injuries once the series is finished.

King Gayle is coming to Pakistan

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION], will the series be broadcasted in the UK? If you find out please let us know as soon as possible.