Pakistan Super League cricket final to be played at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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Pakistan Super League cricket final to be played at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium

ByReuters
Feb 28, 2017 02:37 PM IST

The Pakistan Super League features cricket stars from all over the world but many appear reluctant to travel to Pakistan for the final.

Pakistan will hold the final of its wildly popular domestic T20 cricket league -- the Pakistan Super League -- on home soil for the first time, despite a wave of deadly attacks across the country, the cricket board announced on Monday.

Private guards stand alert outside the Gadaffi cricket stadium, a venue for the upcoming final of the Pakistan Super League in Lahore. Pakistan cricket fans fear foreign players will avoid competing in the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore after a suicide bomber killed 13 people there on Monday. The five-team PSL began last week in the United Arab Emirates, and the final on March 5 is set for Lahore.(AP)
Private guards stand alert outside the Gadaffi cricket stadium, a venue for the upcoming final of the Pakistan Super League in Lahore. Pakistan cricket fans fear foreign players will avoid competing in the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore after a suicide bomber killed 13 people there on Monday. The five-team PSL began last week in the United Arab Emirates, and the final on March 5 is set for Lahore.(AP)

However, it was not clear how many foreign players would come to Pakistan, where 130 people have been killed in recent attacks, to take part in the March 5 game in the eastern city of Lahore.

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While the Pakistan Super League, now in its second year, attracts an estimated television audience of over 50 million people in the cricket-crazed nation, so far all matches have been played in the United Arab Emirates.

“The nation has shown its passion and unity. The Pakistani nation is peaceful and it will not be blackmailed,” Pakistan Cricket Board executive committee chairman Najam Sethi said.

The Pakistan Super League features cricket stars from all over the world but many appear reluctant to travel to Pakistan for the final.

“We have to wait until March 3 to know which foreign players will travel to Lahore, as we still do not know which two teams will qualify,” Sethi told reporters.

A Pakistani worker washes seats in Gaddafi stadium as preparation for upcoming final match of Pakistan Super League in Lahore on March 5. Pakistan's provincial government gave green signal on Monday to organise PSL final in Lahore. (AP)
A Pakistani worker washes seats in Gaddafi stadium as preparation for upcoming final match of Pakistan Super League in Lahore on March 5. Pakistan's provincial government gave green signal on Monday to organise PSL final in Lahore. (AP)

Pakistan have played most of its home international matches in the United Arab Emirates since 2009, when gunmen attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team from their hotel to Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium, wounding six players and killing six security personnel and two civilians.

The country has been starved of international cricket, apart from a short visit by the Zimbabwe cricket team in 2015.

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