Afghanistan keen to play in Pakistan for reviving international cricket

Karachi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is willing to send its national team to Pakistan to play One-Day Internationals (ODI) with the hope of reviving international cricket in the country, chief executive Noor Muhammad Murad said Tuesday.

Murad went to Pakistan on a short trip recently with the hope of strengthening bilateral cricketing ties between both the countries. He later termed his trip "fruitful" after meeting Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Sheharyar Khan.

"Our focus and request was basically to play ODI matches with Pakistan. The Afghanistan board is ready to send the national team to various cities of Pakistan to help the revival of international cricket in the neighboring country (Pakistan)," he was quoted as saying by The Dawn newspaper.

Murad visited Pakistan along with the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and held talks with top PCB officials before witnessing a friendly macth between Pakistan A and Afghanistan A in Islamabad Saturday.

Noor further said that the infrastructure in Afghanistan was still short of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) prerequisites. So they are willing to host Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) if a bilateral agreement is reached between the two boards.

"Considering the ICC regulations, we can also host them (Pakistan) in the UAE, that was the main focal point of the discussion", the Afghan official said.

"Initially he (the PCB chairman) showed his keenness to develop this kind of co-operation but we are still waiting for the implementation plan", he concluded.