Karachi: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Shaharyar Khan has said that the PCB will ensure the same security lapses, which were made when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by militants in Lahore in March 2009, are not made for the one-day series against Kenya.
Khan admitted that with three days remaining before the Kenya team reaches Lahore, he is apprehensive and nervous over security arrangements for the tour.
"Kenya is the first team to tour Pakistan since that incident although we have hosted Afghanistan a few times. So we know the importance of this tour. We see it as the first door towards eventually convincing other teams to tour Pakistan," Khan was quoted as saying by 'Express newspaper'.
The former foreign diplomat made it clear that what happened with the Sri Lankan team in 2009 would not be allowed to happen again.
"At that time Punjab was under governor rule and there were administrative problems and the police showed gross negligence in providing security to the Sri Lankans. There were major security lapses which led to the incident," he noted.
"But now we have made sure the Kenyan team is provided round the clock state level security because obviously there will always be apprehensions and we want to make sure the tour passes well," he said.
Kenya will play five one-day matches against the Pakistan A side in Lahore from December 12 onwards.
The PCB chief said that the attack on the Sri Lankan team had hurt Pakistan cricket badly and till today it was struggling to be financially secure and strong.
"That incident should never have happened and I don't blame the PCB for this, it was the negligence of the police and they have also admitted this in the inquiry that was held after the incident," he said.
