Karachi:
Security concerns have again forced the Pakistan Cricket Board to shift its coming home series against South Africa and Sri Lanka to neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates.
A senior official of the PCB today said that due to the fragile law and order situation in the country the board had decided to host the series in the UAE.
He confirmed that South Africa had already declined to tour Pakistan because of security concerns while the PCB itself didn't bother to push the Sri Lankans to play in the country.
"Given the situation it would have been a useless exercise to try to convince the Sri Lankans to play in Pakistan," the official said.
Interestingly, the interim chairman of the PCB, Najam Sethi after taking charge on Sunday made it clear that while his priority was to see international cricket's return to Pakistan, this could not be possible until the law and order situation improved in the country.
"Unless the law and order situation improves I don't think we can get foreign teams to play in Pakistan. Although we will continue our efforts for an early restoration of international cricket in Pakistan," he said.
On Sunday militants attacked and shot dead atleast nine foreign tourists in the scenic mountainous region of Nanga Parbat in the northern areas of Pakistan, the first such deadly attack on foreign tourists.
