ENG vs PAK | England owe Pakistan a return tour in coming years, reckons Wasim Akram
Pakistan’s Wasim Akram feels that England would need to show gratitude to the Pakistan cricketers by agreeing to tour the sub-continent nation in the coming years. Akram feels England owe Pakistan a return tour due to the sacrifices made by the visiting side to make the ongoing series a reality.
Despite the nation of Pakistan being a walking Covid-19 hotspot, and despite the United Kingdom not being too safe either, the PCB and Pakistan cricketers agreed to tour England in the midst of a pandemic to do their part in helping the broken sport of cricket get back on its feet. The visitors had plenty of setbacks - not least 10 players testing positive prior to them flying to England - but overcame all troubles and quarantined themselves in the UK for over a month and ensured that the series went ahead without any complication.
According to former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, who is currently in Sky Sports’ commentary team, England owe Pakistan a reciprocal tour in the future due to the sheer sacrifices made by the visiting side. Akram even assured England that they would be subject to world-class hospitality if and when they decide to tour the subcontinent nation.
"You boys owe Pakistan cricket, and the country, a lot, with the boys coming over here. They've been here almost two and half months in the bio-secure environment," Akram told Sky Sports Cricket, reported Times Now.
"So if everything goes well, England should tour Pakistan. I promise you they'll get looked after on and off the field there and every game will be a packed house," he added.
The entirety of the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League, for the first time in its history, was held in Pakistan and Akram noted how multiple English players who partook in the tournament were loved by the fans and were looked after with care. The 54-year-old stated that the PSL taking place in Pakistan was a step in the right direction and said that he was hopeful that the players, who were confined to their hotel rooms for this edition for security reasons, would get to roam the country freely when cricket returns to the nation.
"The English players were there for the Pakistan Super League in our team, Karachi Kings - Alex Hales and Chris Jordan. They loved it, they enjoyed it, they got looked after beautifully, so the PSL is a step in the right direction," the former Pakistan skipper said.
"There is a lot more to see in Pakistan than cricket and players might be frustrated staying in the hotels all the time but hopefully next year we can let them go out to cinemas and shopping centres, while there is also a lot of history in Pakistan.”
Last month, West Indies captain Jason Holder, too, pleaded with the ECB and asked them to consider touring the Caribbean Nation in the future to help boost finances. Meanwhile, Test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 for the first time in over 10 years as Sri Lanka toured the Men in Green for a two-Test series in December.
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