Karachi, Jan 24: Pakistan Cricket Board president Zaka Ashraf has offered to give $ 2 million insurance to visiting players in a bid to remove seuciryt concerns in the minds of foreign players coming to play in the country.
Pakistan Cricket Board is facing problems since 2009, when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in broad daylight. Five Sri Lankan players were injured, and six policemen and a driver were killed in that terror attack.
Since then, most of the leading nations in cricket have either been avoiding visiting Pakistan to play series or have been playing against Pakistan in the Gulf. Even the ICC moved out the 2011 World Cup matches in the subcontinent away from Pakistan.
“We are taking all steps to revive international cricket here and everyone should feel proud about the efforts we have made in this regard,” Ashraf told Dawn newspaper.
The steps would include offering insurance and providing security for visiting teams, he said.
“(People) are afraid that they would be subjected to a shoot-out as soon as they come out of the airport,” Ashraf said.
“There is lot of effort required to change this perception because things are definitely not so bad here.”
When a World XI played two Twenty20 exhibition matches in Pakistan last October, the government had to deploy 5,000 police and para-military personnel.
