Abu Dhabi cricket series to go ahead as scheduled

KARACHI: Pakistan’s three-match series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi will be held according to schedule after the event’s organisers secured sponsorship for its successful hosting, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Tuesday, writes Khalid Hussain.

Zakir Khan, PCB’s Director of Cricket Operations, told this correspondent in a telephonic conversation from Lahore that the Abu Dhabi series would be played from May 18-22 as its hosts have managed to overcome all financial hiccups.

“The Abu Dhabi cricket officials have informed us that there are no financial issues anymore and the series would go ahead as planned,” said the former Pakistan Test pacer.

Zakir said that the event’s organisers did face some financial difficulties because of lack of proper sponsorship and insufficient funds coming from television rights but all those issues have been resolved.

The PCB official rejected reports that the organisers may pay a bigger sum to Sri Lanka for playing in the series than it has promised Pakistan. “It is absurd. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka would be paid the same amount to feature in the series,” he said without disclosing the amounts involved.

There were reports that Cricket Sri Lanka had demanded an extra fund of US$250,000 from the Abu Dhabi officials to confirm their participation in the series. It was claimed in the reports that the demand was made after Sri Lanka featured in the final of the World Cup in Barbados on April 28.

It is believed that the organisers of the series had offered US$500,000 each to Pakistan and Sri Lanka to play in the series.

The organisers in Abu Dhabi had initially aimed to hold a triangular tournament featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa but were forced to alter the plans after the Proteas refused to participate in the proposed event.

The Pak-SL series failed to spark much interest among sponsors and television channels apparently because most of them had already exhausted their budgets during the World Cup.

The series would also be without several stars from either side as leading Pakistani batsman Younis Khan and pace star Shoaib Akhtar made themselves unavailable for the event. From the Sri Lankan side, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara would miss the series.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan team players for the Abu Dhabi series would reassemble at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore today after a brief rest.

Team manager Talat Ali would supervise training sessions starting from tomorrow in preparation for the series. Talat, a former Pakistan Test cricketer, would also serve as the team coach in Abu Dhabi as Pakistan are yet to replace Bob Woolmer, their coach who died in Jamaica during the World Cup in March.

The first phase of the camp concluded last week and now the Pakistani players would train for five days before their departure for Abu Dhabi on May 16. The three matches there would be played on May 18, 20 and 22 under floodlights.