Government of Punjab asks PCB to reschedule September World XI tour

International cricket of some sorts was all set to make a comeback to Pakistani soil with a proposed World XI tour this September. The ICC and the PCB had recently revealed that the World XI will play three T20Is against Pakistan in September this year. Now, the dates for the same tour are under the scanner to get rescheduled. As per the recent reports in Geo.tv, the Government of Punjab has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to modify the dates for the tour.

The primary reason behind this has been cited as the by-election of NA-120 to be held on September 17. As per the proposed tour plans, the three T20Is were scheduled to be played in Lahore on September 12, September 15, and September 17. A source close to the matter conceded that the tour will have to be moved to either side of the election dates.

“The government has told us to either hold matches before 15th September or go for it after 17th. We can’t manage it after 17th as team has to fly to UAE on 21st for series against Sri Lanka, so we will have to arrange it before 15th,” the source quoted.

The source further conceded that the PCB has already started the talks with the ICC regarding this issue. “We are working on it and hopefully we will be able to arrange new dates soon,” the source added.

Huge sums offered to the players

Meanwhile, there have been reports surfacing the media regarding huge sums of money being offered to the players to play in the World XI side. Earlier this year, Pakistan had hosted the PSL finals. The overseas players of the Quetta Gladiators had backed out from playing the finals in Lahore, following which a new set of overseas players had to be named. Apparently, the ICC and PCB are trying to lure the overseas players with huge sum of money now.

“The final report is with CM Shehbaz Sharif for the approval. They have been offered $100,00 US dollars to play three matches over six days plus a pre-series training camp in Dubai,” reported British newspaper The Telegraph.

Security report

Also, the reports by the FICA have cleared the security concerns. The officer who has given the green signal to the tour is the same officer who had earlier cleared the England’s tour of Bangladesh last year.

“The FICA report has been compiled by the England & Wales Cricket Board’s security officer Reg Dickason, who visited Pakistan last month to review security plans. It was Dickason’s report last year that cleared the way for England to tour Bangladesh,” reports suggested.