PAK vs SL | All players are excited and emotional to play at home, reveals Misbah ul-Haq

Pakistan’s long wait to welcome an international team has finally come to an end as the Sri Lankan contingent arrived to play in three ODIs, the first of which is scheduled for Friday. This will be followed by a three match T20 series, the last of which will mark an end to the tour on the 9th of October. Only four teams, namely Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, West Indies and the World XI, have visited Pakistan for short durations in the last ten years, and Misbah has hence urged the international community to increase the frequency of the same.

"Cricket world needs to do more, not only for Pakistan but for any country where it is hit," he was quoted saying by Sportstar.

Sri Lanka had toured the country in 2009 when a terrorist attack on the team bus had killed six civilians and two policemen, while also injuring many players and support staff inside the bus. Hence, the upcoming tour is especially significant for the Green Army.

"I know it would have been a tough decision for Sri Lanka to tour," he said.

The Asian country has for long been one of the dominant forces in world cricket, having won every ICC marquee event once. It used to host extensive tours until the unfortunate incident a decade ago has prevented the cricketing forces from taking the decision to play them at home, with Pakistan have to resort to using the UAE as the venue for its home fixtures.

"Pakistan is a cricket-loving country and it would be injustice to deprive them of international cricket, so I hope that the world will support us more and more. Otherwise the survival of cricket will be difficult," Misbah stated.

Only Sarfaraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail and Wahab Riaz in the present ODI squad have played in a home game before. Hence, Misbah ul-Haq, who’ll be leading the team from the sidelines having been named the coach-selector recently, understands what meaning the game holds to the players.

"It's a special moment for all of us and players are excited as well as emotional, playing before their home fans and at home ground, so it's really special," he explained.