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Restricting the duration of high-value contracts to five years and being transparent in the tendering process has proved to be a fruitful exercise for the BCCI, which has raked in close to INR 20,000 crore (approx US $3.12 billion) across three mega deals sealed in the past six months – Monday’s record-breaking IPL rights deal included.That is the assessment of Rahul Johri, the BCCI’s chief executive officer, who agreed that the due-diligence process originally recommended by the Lodha Committee and now followed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has bred a healthy environment that has attracted bidders from across the globe to Indian cricket.In March, OPPO Mobiles India, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, won the Indian team sponsorship rights for a five-year period, starting April 1 2017, for INR 1079 crore (approx USD 162 million). In June, Vivo, another Chinese mobile manufacturer, retained the IPL title sponsorship rights paying INR 2199 crore (approx US $341 million) for a five-year deal. Along with Monday’s IPL rights deal, clinched by Star India for INR 16,347.50 crore (approx US $2.55 billion), that is a combined worth of INR 19,625.50 crore.”In business if you have accountability, transparency and stability, that translates into numbers. And that is what has happened,” Johri told ESPNcricinfo. “These three tenders have happened under the CoA’s watch.”In its final report, made public in January 2016, the Lodha Committee had pointed out that “no norms or procedures exist to select or engage contractors in a fair and transparent manner” when the BCCI signed new contracts, including television rights. The Supreme Court agreed and directed the BCCI to make sure all bids were passed through the due-diligence process done by lawyers and auditors before the bids were unveiled.On Monday, the technical bids of the 14 companies that decided to enter the IPL media-rights bidding process were passed through auditors from Deloitte and the law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.Another key change, which has proved influential, is reducing the bid duration from 10 years to five. The previous television rights deal was for 10 years, which ended in 2017. In July, the BCCI decided to set the duration for all the rights’ categories at five years.Speaking of this decision, Johri pointed out the enthusiasm in the digital-rights segment, where Facebook, Airtel and Reliance Jio each bid INR 3000-plus crore. “You saw the excitement in digital and who knows five years from now where digital will be… It absolutely justifies [reducing the rights term]. Companies plan for five years. I don’t know of many companies that plan for ten years. There is accuracy in those [five-year] plans. These are all board-level decision companies have to take. Even the bidders have accountability, they can’t just put up an arbitrary number. There are processes. So keeping it for five years works well.”Also, another advantage of keeping the rights cycle to five years, Johri pointed out, was “the sum of two five-year bids will definitely be bigger than one 10-year bid”.The IPL rights deal is now the most expensive in cricket, with Star India paying virtually INR 55 crore (approx US $8.47 million) per IPL match. Johri was not surprised at the money paid by Star India, which he said was a “viable” amount. The value of the digital rights, Johri said, was a clear indicator that there was “very high growth” in this market.

Suzie Bates continued her stunning form but it wasn’t quite enough•Nathan Stirk / Stringer

Reigning champions Southern Vipers lost their first game in this season’s Kia Women’s Super League despite another impressive innings by Suzie Bates.Bates has yet to be dismissed in the tournament after making an unbeaten 50 to add to earlier scores of 47 and 119.But Vipers’ pursuit of a target of 128 against Surrey Stars at the Ageas Bowl stalled when they lost four wickets for one run having reached 78 for 3 in the 13th over.Rain forced the players off after 16.2 overs with Vipers 100 for 7 as Stars won by four runs under Duckworth-Lewis to claim their third straight win and virtually seal their place in finals day at Hove on September 1.Bates and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews had launched the chase with a stand of 35 before Vipers lost three wickets in nine balls, two of them to England off-spinner Laura Marsh.Bates and Arran Brindle then put on 37 for the fourth wicket and looked to be steering the hosts to victory before the dramatic collapse.Brindle was leg before to Nat Sciver who then ran out Georgia Adams from midwicket in the next over. In her next over, Sciver bowled Vipers’ captain Charlotte Edwards round her legs and trapped Carla Rudd lbw two balls later.Vipers took 16 runs off the 16th over with Bates moving to her half-century with successive fours as they tried in vain to get ahead of Duckworth-Lewis before the rain got too heavy.Earlier, Stars were indebted to their two South Africans, Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp, to get them to 127 for 8 after winning the toss with 56 runs coming in the Powerplay.Lee, making her first appearance in the competition, crashed 40 off 24 balls with eight fours as she dominated to the extent that no other batsman scored a run until the fifth over. She looked in prime form until mis-timing a drive to extra cover in the seventh over.Kapp held the rest of the innings together with 42 from 48 balls but some accurate bowling restricted Stars to 50 runs between the 6th and 16th overs, during which time they lost three wickets including Sciver, who was run out by Matthews’ direct hit from mid-off.

Match Facts

July 26-30, 2017
Start time 1000 local (0430GMT)2:51

The team that tackles spin best will win – Arnold

Big Picture

At a glance, Sri Lanka’s recent home record is not so bad. They have won five of their six most recent Tests on the island and at least three of those victories were comprehensive. The whitewash over Australia, too, remains a source of enduring pride, even though it was achieved close to a year ago. Rangana Herath – the hero of that series – remains undiminished in his 40th year. Kusal Mendis, who produced pivotal performance, has also since made headway, hitting another mammoth match-winning innings, in Galle, against Bangladesh.And yet, there is fear in Sri Lanka that this series could go badly. Earlier this year, the hosts were beaten by Bangladesh for the first time ever and, less than two weeks ago, had been pushed by an even lower-ranked Zimbabwe side. How will they compete with India, the top-ranked Test team? How can Sri Lanka beat a side that, almost irrefutably, is fitter, better drilled, more confident and, probably, have comfier seats and softer suspension on their team bus?Since their arrival on the island, India have even made the kinds of noises that teams, who are runaway favourites, tend to make. While on tougher tours, words like “challenge” and “big effort” dominate the pre-series talk, here, they have spoken of respecting the opposition. They had, after all, won the series in 2015, when the Sri Lanka team seemed to be in much better shape. While for Sri Lanka the two years since have been characterised by resignations, new faces and flux, India have rocked up with a very similar squad. Stability, consistency, and excellence – right now, India represent everything Sri Lanka are not.Still, strange things happen on the island. No one expected a 3-0 thrashing of Australia last year, and, like a ball leaping out a footmark, that series produced a triumphant surprise for Sri Lanka. Besides, with so many developing players in their XI nothing is ever written in stone for Sri Lanka.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
India WDWLW

In the spotlight

Only a year ago Upul Tharanga had been out of all Sri Lanka’s sides, but now, he finds himself not only embedded in them, but saddled with responsibility. That he is an outlandishly talented batsman has never been in doubt, but he has, at times, been wasteful – running down the pitch to play a lazy shot when well set, or fatally failing to ground his bat at the non-striker’s end, such as in his most recent game, against Zimbabwe. Having come into this series on the back of some form, here is Tharanga’s chance to prove he is not a fair-weather batsman – one who only prospers in friendly conditions, or low-pressure match situations. Runs against R Ashwin and co. will be hard-earned.India are without their first-choice openers in the most difficult country for openers this decade. It is time to rely on Cheteshwar Pujara again. India will need his solidity at the top to settle the team down at the start of the series. From their experience in Galle the last time, India know that things can go wrong quickly in Sri Lanka; Pujara has to be their assurance against that.

Team news

Danushka Gunathilaka and Dhananjaya de Silva will fight for the No. 4 spot vacated by the newly appointed Test captain Dinesh Chandimal, who was ruled out of the Test owing to pneumonia. There is, however, a chance Sri Lanka could go into this match with five bowlers, in which case, left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara could pip them both for a debut instead. A fit-again Nuwan Pradeep may enter the XI.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 7 Asela Gunaratne, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath (capt), 10 Lahiru Kumara, 11 Nuwan PradeepVirat Kohli said India were not going to experiment at the top of the order, which means Abhinav Mukund and Shikhar Dhawan should open for India. Kohli also said the pitch looked good for batting, which could tempt India to play only five batsmen and opt for Hardik Pandya as the allrounder. If they do emphasise on security in the first Test of a series, India could go in with Rohit Sharma at No. 6.India (possible) 1 Abhinav Mukund, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma/Hardik Pandya, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ravindra Jadeja, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Mohammed Shami

Pitch and conditions

There was a light covering of grass on the pitch on the eve of the match, but rarely does a Galle surface fail to turn at the back end of a Test. For now, the teams expect the track to be good for batting on the first two days. Afternoon showers are always a threat in the region at this time of year.

Stats and trivia

• This will be R Ashwin’s 50th Test match, and his fourth in Sri Lanka.
• Rangana Herath will be leading Sri Lanka for fifth time. He has three wins and a loss on his record – all previous matches having been against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.
• There has not been a drawn Test in Sri Lanka for three years. Each of the 16 most-recent matches have yielded results.

Quotes

“We totally respect the game, we totally how hard we need to work to win every Test match, every situation, every session and every ball is an event for us.””This looks a good pitch I can’t say whether there is going to be turn early on or not. But on the fourth and fifth days, there will be some assistance for the spinners.”
Rangana Herath on the conditions

ScorecardChris Rushworth ensured Durham’s hard graft earlier in the day brought reward•Getty Images

Glamorgan opener Nick Selman followed his match-winning century against Durham at Swansea last month with another hundred in the Specsavers County Championship match at Chester-le-Street.But Durham’s Chris Rushworth hit back with the second new ball, grabbing three wickets to finish with 5 for 40 as the visitors slipped from 182 for 3 to close the first day on 221 for 7.Having elected to bat in baking heat, Glamorgan ground along all day. losing only one wicket in each of the first two sessions in reaching 147 from 66 overs.Selman spent 249 balls over his hundred, getting there by inside-edging Rushworth for his 13th four. Three balls later he was lbw for 103.Offspinner Ryan Pringle conceded only 23 runs in 19 overs as Durham maintained their accuracy, with the other two wickets going to academy seamer Matty Potts in his second appearance.Despite a minute’s silence for the London fire victims at 11am, and a drinks break at noon, Durham got through 33 overs in an attritional first session.Jacques Rudolph fell in the seventh over when Rushworth was rewarded for an excellent spell by clipping the left-hander’s off bail.Andrew Salter, promoted to three in the absence of Will Bragg, cut and pulled Barry McCarthy for two fours but was otherwise restrained.He departed for 25 when he pushed forward and edged Rushworth to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter to end a stand of 66 in 34 overs.Colin Ingram also made a cautious start but began to flourish when he drove Pringle through the covers then cut him for another four. He fell for 33 when Potts moved one away to have him caught behind.When Rushworth took the new ball his fourth delivery swung in to take out Aneurin Donald’s off stump. Then balls which nipped back had Selman and David Lloyd lbw, although neither seemed happy with the decision.Potts took the final wicket of the day when wicketkeeper Tom Cullen, handed his debut after Chris Cooke took a blow on the head in practice, was well caught at second slip by Pringle.

Steven Smith admitted his Australia side “got away with one” after rain forced an abandonment in their ICC Champions Trophy match against New Zealand at Edgbaston.Smith criticised his seamers for “one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time,” as New Zealand amassed 254 for three at the end of the 39th over. And while he felt they clawed back some ground in the final six overs of the innings – New Zealand lost seven wickets for 37 runs in that period – he still accepted Australia would “have preferred to been in New Zealand’s position” when the rain came.”I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time,” Smith said after the match. “We bowled both sides of wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies. It was pretty ordinary.”We certainly would have preferred to be in New Zealand’s position when we came off the end there. We still had a lot of work to do and they’ve got a quality bowling attack as well. So we perhaps got away with one there.”Australia were wobbling at 53 for 3 when the match was abandoned. Both sides took a point from the game and realistically have to win both their remaining matches if they are to progress to the semi-finals.While Smith suggested “rust” might have been a factor in the performance – Mitchell Starc hasn’t played a white-ball match since February and any sort of cricket since early March, while Josh Hazlewood played just one warm-up match in a similar period – both he and opposing captain, Kane Williamson, noted the aggression of the New Zealand top order as a factor in unsettling the Australian attack.”Let’s hope it’s rust and let’s hope it’s gone,” Smith said. “Because that was, as I said, was pretty ordinary.”But credit to them. They came out quite hard and played quite well up top. And Kane timed his innings beautifully and played really well throughout the middle.”With Luke Ronchi, once an Australia player, thrashing a brisk half-century, New Zealand raced to 117 for one in the 16th over. Willaimson felt that approach may have been partially responsible for the off-colour performance from the Australian bowlers.”I thought the opening partnership from us was very, very good,” Williamson said. “And put them under a bit of pressure on a good batting surface.”I thought Ronchi was outstanding setting the tone today. Martin Guptill as well. That was a very good partnership at the top of the order against a very good bowling attack. It was a great effort by Luke and very good innings.”Both captains agreed the result was “not ideal” and accepted their sides had to win their final two games in the group stages to stand a reasonable chance of progressing.”The nature of this tournament is that every game is basically knockout,” Williamson said. “We played some good cricket and we can’t control the weather. Although it is a little bit frustrating.””It’s obviously not ideal to have a washout,” Smith said. “So for us now it’s about making sure that we’re playing each game like a final and winning the next two. It’s a pretty quick tournament. You can’t really afford a washout or a loss.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
3:47

Bangar: Knight Riders not showing any complacency

How long is 20 overs? Ask Delhi Daredevils’ batsmen, who once again found time to wander aimlessly in the middle overs and then stumble at the end. In a repeat of their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Daredevils got off to a flier – 53 in the Powerplay in both matches – but lived up to their well-earned reputation of being the slowest in middle overs and couldn’t manage a finishing kick to boot. The most prolific pair this IPL – Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir – then made light of the 161-run target.In what was the first signs of this being Groundhog Day, the captains walked out for a toss that was purely academic. Daredevils wanted to defend because they don’t want their inexperienced batting active in decisive moments, Knight Riders wanted to chase because they last lost chasing at Eden Gardens in 2012. Sanju Samson then continued his schizophrenic IPL: bomb the quicks, go comatose against spin, and then find yourself under pressure and either kick on or fail. Failure is likelier if you keep putting yourself under that pressure, and it didn’t help that Chris Morris, Rishabh Pant and Corey Anderson couldn’t do much either.Narine pulls them back
Samson once again displayed his outrageous talent of clean striking and raced away to 25 off nine balls. Then came Sunil Narine with a record of 56 balls against Samson, Karun Nair and Anderson for just 49 runs and three wickets. On cue he produced his first Powerplay wicket this season: Karun Nair, out sweeping. Daredevils 48 for 1 in the fifth over.Slow bowlers, slower battingSamson has scored just 81 runs off 76 balls of spin this season. Against pace he has looted 203 off 119. It was a mild surprise Narine was not introduced sooner. Brakes came on immediately with either Narine or Kuldeep Yadav manning one end in the middle overs. The result was a partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Samson that reached 50 in 7.3 overs. Forty-six legal deliveries went without a hit to the fence. Every such delivery meant one fewer for the big hitters to face.When Samson scored his hundred this season, he went through a similar pattern: a flying start of 35 off 19, then only 13 off the next 19, and then the final kick. Against Knight Riders in Delhi, he did the same, going from 27 off 12 to just 13 off the next 13 balls. Here, too, he put himself under pressure of going big in the end. Like in Delhi, he failed to kick on here, scoring just 35 off the last 29 balls he faced, despite two late sixes.Iyer’s innings was more damaging. He found himself in a desperate situation after scoring 18 off the first 21 balls he faced. They both tried to go hard the moment Colin de Grandhomme was introduced in the 13th over, but Daredevils needed something big from them or from Morris, Pant and Anderson to salvage the situation.Pace stifles DaredevilsUmesh Yadav got Samson lbw with one that swung back in. Needing quick runs Samson was caught playing a low-percentage flick to square leg. The came back Nathan Coulter-Nile to eliminate the big threat of Pant with a straight near-yorker. Iyer again took high risk in the same over and perished. Corey Anderson was dropped twice, but Morris ran him out. Chris Woakes and Coulter-Nile then finished off for Knight Riders with just one boundary coming in the last four overs. Coulter-Nile has taken two or more wickets in each of the four matches he has played.The leaveWhen Daredevils scored an underwhelming 168 in their last match against Knight Riders, the quality in their bowling made Gambhir’s side sweat over the chase. Daredevils are one of the sides that can be backed to do something with small defences. Even though Zaheer Khan walked off with what looked like a pulled hamstring in his second over, Daredevils got off to a heartening start. Kagiso Rabada burst through Narine’s defence, and soon had Uthappa top-edging. The ball fell near the square leg umpire with ample time for at least three fielders to converge. Samson and Mishra came the closest. Neither of them called. Neither of them went for it. Had the catch been taken, Knight Riders would have been reduced to 37 for 2 in the sixth over, with Gambhir still going at a strike rate of 100.The endgameA long one at that. Gambhir, still one of the best players of spin in India, welcomed Mishra with two boundaries in his first over. Uthappa tore into Morris at the other end. In eight overs, Knight Riders had knocked off half the runs. If Daredevils had seven boundary-less overs after the quick start, there were only two middle overs in the Knight Riders innings that didn’t feature a boundary. When Gambhir pulled an innocuous short ball from Anderson for a four in the 13th over, the asking rate dropped under a run a ball. The game was over long ago.

Khalid Latif, the Pakistan batsman charged with six breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code during the PSL in February, appeared before a three-member tribunal in Lahore on Friday, a week after skipping the first hearing citing ill health.Latif and his legal team agreed to the PCB’s adopted timelines, with a formal hearing set for May 15 in Lahore. He was given a deadline of May 5 to respond to his alleged code-of-conduct breaches. The PCB said in a release that it “may, at its discretion, file a rebuttal by May 10”. The final trial is expected to start on May 18.The charges laid on Latif, who represented Islamabad United but returned without playing a match because of the suspension, included failing to disclose suspect approaches.The same tribunal, comprising Justice Asghar Haider, former PCB president Tauqir Zia, and former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari, will also hear the case of Sharjeel Khan, Latif’s Islamabad United team-mate who is facing similar charges relating to the opening match of this year’s PSL. Both players have denied some of the alleged breaches but admitted to at least one of the more minor charges.Meanwhile, fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, who has been banned for one year from all forms of cricket and fined PKR1 million for failing to report an approach during the same tournament, has been handed a lifeline by the PCB. He will be able to return after six months if he assists the board in its ongoing investigations into the PSL corruption scandal, and doesn’t breach the board’s anti-corruption code in that time.Shazaib Hasan, provisionally suspended from all forms of cricket for a similar offence, wants to contest charges laid by the PCB. He has submitted a response to the PCB charge sheet and will wait to hear about a possible referral of his case to the tribunal. He was also pulled out of the tournament failing to report a suspect approach in time and in full detail, and also for allegedly inducing players in corruption indirectly.

The inquiry into a suspicious first-class match in January will take “two to three” more weeks, SLC has said.SLC had appointed a committee to head an inquiry into a Premier League Tournament match between Kalutara Physical Culture Club and eventual Tier B winners Panadura Sports Club, when a rival team made allegations that the result of that match had been artificially engineered. Though it was hoped that committee would produce a final report on their findings within a few weeks, with the case having since become more complex, further time was required.”The inquiry might take a little longer – maybe two or three weeks,” SLC vice-president K Mathivanan said. “There are so many witnesses who have to be heard from. Also, they will be allowed to be examined by the Panadura and KCC lawyers. Then there will be natural justice. It’s like a court scenario, but justice will be done.”That match had drawn suspicion primarily because of the nature of the third and final day’s scoring rates. Panadura, who were still making their first-innings response to Kalutara’s 390, hit 223 at a run rate of 10.34 to begin the last day, and the scoring continued at this breakneck pace. Kalutara were all out for 197 in 22.5 overs, in their second innings; Panadura then chased down the target of 165 inside 14 overs. All told, a staggering 587 runs were scored in a single day.The result proved to be pivotal to the league’s outcome, as Panadura went on to beat Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club to the Tier B title.

Twenty-year old quick Lungi Ngidi has not recovered from the hip injury he sustained during the third T20 against Sri Lanka in Cape Town two weeks ago and will not travel with South Africa’s limited-overs squad to New Zealand. David Miller, who is sitting out the rest of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka after he required stitches to his hand, has recovered and will travel with 14-man group to play one T20 and five ODIs, starting next Friday.The only addition to the outfit that leads Sri Lanka 4-0 with a game to play is that of Cobras’ bowler Dane Paterson, who will travel as cover for Dwaine Pretorius who is awaiting the birth of his first child. Paterson was capped for a T20 against Sri Lanka but has yet to make his ODI debut. He will travel with the squad from Saturday and is expected to remain with them for the lone T20 and the first ODI. He will return home once baby Pretorius arrives and Dwaine is available to travel.”We, as selectors are very happy with the way the squad has gelled over the past 6 months and consistency in selection is very important as we continue our build-up towards the ICC Champions Trophy tournament,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors said.The lack of changes to the South African squad comes after they won two successive series at home – 5-0 against Australia and the victory over Sri Lanka which may yet become a whitewash – and suggests South Africa have largely settled on their Champions Trophy squad. After the New Zealand series, they will play three ODIs in England in May in preparation for the tournament and if they were going to trial any different combinations, they would have used their time in New Zealand to do so.With Paterson only included as a short-term replacement, though, there may yet be a spot for Ngidi, who will likely play in the domestic one-day cup when he regains fitness. South Africa have yet to decide who will take the new ball and have experimented between Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell and Pretorius.South Africa will expect New Zealand to present a sterner challenge than Sri Lanka, especially since they recently beat Australia in an ODI series, but will also place an emphasis on conditions which could be similar to England’s early season. If South Africa beat Sri Lanka in the final ODI on Friday, they will travel there as the No.1 ranked ODI side. New Zealand are in third place.South Africa squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi

The PCB has issued a strong rebuttal of the security advice given by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) over the planned staging of the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore. The report strongly suggested that overseas players should decline to participate due to concerns over safety.Pakistan’s board swiftly and fiercely rejected the FICA assessment via a strongly worded press release. “FICA has done great disservice to the cause of cricket in general and Pakistan cricket in particular by advising players not to play in the PSL final in Lahore next March because of ‘security reasons’,” read a statement. “FICA has cited unnamed expert security consultants for updated security advice that claims Pakistan is at an extremely elevated state of insecurity.”The FICA statement came shortly after the PCB had announced that the final would be played in Lahore on March 5, as planned, whether overseas players take part or not. If they decline to travel, they will be replaced by players from Pakistan or foreign players who are ready to make a trip. Apart from the final the entire tournament will be played in the UAE – as was the 2016 edition. The two finalists will then meet at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.In the report, FICA warned that the risk level in Pakistan remains “at an extremely elevated state” and that “an acceptable level of participant security and safety cannot be expected or guaranteed”. The report, which FICA said was based on “updated security advice” from expert security consultants, states that: “Pakistan continues to experience significant terrorist attacks across the country and westerners have in the past been directly targeted and killed in Pakistan.”Indiscriminate and targeted attacks are likely to continue, and expert advice is consistent with all Government Agencies and Diplomatic Missions, who generally advise to reconsider the need to travel. There have been attacks at sporting events, which have had significant security overlay in the past, and terrorist groups in Pakistan have demonstrated the intent and capability to launch attacks anywhere in the country. Locations including luxury hotels are also at high risk of being targeted by militant groups.”In its response, the PCB said: “This is a careless and cavalier approach to an issue of great importance. FICA sits thousands of miles away from Pakistan and cannot name even one credible security expert, yet makes a sweeping negative statement about the security situation in Lahore. FICA’s claim that ‘westerners and luxury hotels have been attacked’ is contrary to the facts on the ground that prove that not a single foreigner or hotel has been attacked in Lahore in the last five years.”Pakistan has been a no-go country for major international teams since the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009. Zimbabwe are the only Full Member to tour Pakistan since, when they visited for a limited-overs series in 2015. There was an attempted suicide attack during that short tour, during the second ODI at Lahore, but it took place nearly 800 metres away from the stadium premises. The tour went ahead. During more than six years of isolation, the PCB has also hosted several Associate and Affiliate countries – Afghanistan, Kenya, Hong Kong and, currently, Malaysia.Recalling previous incoming tours, the PCB’s statement further read: “PCB has recently hosted Kenya, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh (Women), Afghanistan and Malaysian national cricket teams in Lahore and Karachi without any problem. In the case of PSL final in Lahore for one day, the government has guaranteed protection by over 3000 army and police personnel in Lahore. PCB will provide armoured buses for travel along with VVIP security protocols.”The statement noted the names of a number of former players, including Brian Lara, Jonty Rhodes, Damien Martyn and others, who had visited Pakistan in recent years in relation to their work as TV experts. Without expanding, the statement also added that the PSL had “already received confirmation from top international players to play in Lahore and PCB is determined to bring cricket home to Pakistan”.