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Foreign teams should visit Pakistan: Sangakkara

  • February 21, 2020

Foreign teams should visit Pakistan: Sangakkara

KARACHI: Kumar Sangakkara, the captain of MCC’s touring squad to Pakistan, has said that it would be great if international teams toured Pakistan.

MCC arrived in Lahore on February 13 to play one 50-overs and three T20 matches. Over the course of their stay, the visitors explored the city by playing golf, visiting the historic Lahore Fort and enjoying dinners across Lahore. Speaking for a PCB podcast, the batting great said: “It’s been great to be back in Pakistan. It’s been a long time since I came here and it has been even longer for the MCC. For us, it has been about coming here and playing cricket in support of Pakistan’s journey of getting international cricket back,” he said. “It’s important that, when you are in a country on a tour, you’re not confined to a hotel, but you can go around and enjoy the city.

“It is excellent for us to get to the Lahore Gymkhana golf course quite a few times. The players absolutely loved it. We were hosted with some amazing hospitality and warmth,” he said.

“The message we will be taking back is about the warmth of the people, the welcome of the fabulous spectators who came to watch cricket, the passion the players and people have for it and our own experiences of playing here and traveling about in Lahore,” he added.

“We would love for teams to consider coming here so that international cricket can finally come back to Pakistan in full force,” he said.

“The message that we take back is that Pakistan is a great place to tour,” Sangakkara said. “I remember all those matches that I’ve played here but it’s always special to come back. We never expected such a big crowd for the first game against the Qalandars. When we got to the ground, we had almost 19,000 people, hungry to watch some cricket.

“We were really, really impressed and we’re very, very moved and we understand very, very easily how much passion there is and how the lack of international cricket is not a great thing for Pakistan, for the people, for the players and for the financial status of the PCB,” the former Sri Lankan captain said.

“I think Pakistan cricket is in a very healthy state,” he said. “Pakistan has always produced exceptional cricketers, especially young cricketers with a lot of variety; really fast bowlers, really good batsmen, mystery spinners, wrist spinners. On this trip it was no different.”

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/617129-foreign-teams-should-visit-pakistan-sangakkara

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