Pakistan chief wants to build on Zimbabwe tour

Pakistan are hoping the successful tour by Zimbabwe will inspire other teams to follow suit, with Sri Lanka considering a return to the country.

A visit by Sri Lanka would be particularly poignant, given they were the last side to tour Pakistan, a tour that ended in the tragedy after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus and officials in 2009.

That attack made Pakistan a no-go zone for international teams, with the nation forced to host fixtures in the United Arab Emirates, until Zimbabwe agreed to visit for two T20 internationals and a three-match ODI series.

Unprecedented security measures were taken when Zimbabwe toured with more than 4,000 police officers distributed throughout Lahore to keep the tourists safe.

The abundance of checkpoints leading into Gaddafi Stadium – the venue for the five international fixtures – could not dampen the enthusiasm for international cricket from the more than 100,000 fans that attended despite a heatwave that saw the mercury top 40C throughout the tour.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan, a former Foreign Secretary, played a key role in securing Zimbabwe's visit, and has begun courting other nations.

Khan invited his Sri Lanka Cricket counterpart Sidath Wettimuny to the third ODI in an effort to show how far Pakistan had come since the terrible incident six year ago.

"He was quite impressed to see the security arrangements, crowd and enthusiasm," Khan told cricket.com.au this week.

"He told me he would report all of it to his board members.

"We are hopeful that Sri Lanka will tour Pakistan but there isn't any definite decision yet."

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Shahryar Khan spoke to cricket.com.au this week // Getty Images

Pakistan and India have also revived cricketing ties and will play against each other, but Khan hosed down any suggestion India would play in Pakistan, or that Pakistan would 'host' its series at Indian venues.

"The (memorandum of understanding) which we have signed with India explicitly states that Pakistan will host the series in UAE," Khan said.

"It is just a speculation that we will rather go to India to play our home series. We haven’t received any such proposal."

While the future remains unclear, Khan was pleased Zimbabwe's visit had proved Pakistan's ability to host matches again.

"It has been a very successful series," Khan told cricket.com.au. "This series has made our base to host more matches in future.

"All the matches were played in front of a full house crowd. The sale of tickets was 100 per cent and we generated good revenue as well.

"The Zimbabwe players told us they had not received such a rousing welcome anywhere before.

"The series was played in good environment and has shrugged off security fears.

"The series will also help us in staging Pakistan Super League in future."

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The Pakistan fans were rapt to have cricket at home again // cricket.com.au

The PCB paid the Zimbabwe players a reported US$12,000 each to tour, but Khan says that arrangement would not continue

"It was just a one-off deal. It does not mean that we will be paying every team which tours Pakistan," Khan said.

"The Zimbabwe series was an exception. We are very thankful to Zimbabwe for visiting Pakistan.

"Now we will visit them in August which will be our return tour.

"The next series will be on bilateral terms. The team we will host will host us in return. It is as simple as that."

The PCB will present to the International Cricket Council's Annual Conference in Barbados later this month on the tour, along with the security measures that were taken and the public reaction.

While the international game is on an upswing, so too is the development of Pakistan's emerging players.

Pakistan's 'A' side had its first series in four years against Sri Lanka A last month, and after hearing about the time between tours, Khan made swift moves to rectify the lack of fixtures.

"I recently received a report on Pakistan A's tour of Sri Lanka. I was shocked to know that it was Pakistan A team's only tour in four years," said Khan.

"We are now also working on an 'A' team, Under-19, emerging players and women's tours.

"In the next year we have arranged three more tours for the Pakistan A team and three of U19 boys as well."

"We are looking to give our emerging players international experience before they play Test cricket.

"We are hopeful that other countries will also send their A teams to Pakistan."