T20 series will help cricket revival in Pakistan: says Windies cricket chief Grave

KARACHI: West Indies cricket chief Johnny Grave hopes that his team’s three-match Twenty20 International series which got underway here at the National Stadium on Sunday will help Pakistan in their campaign to revive international cricket at home.

Grave, the chief executive Cricket West Indies, said that the entire cricket world was supportive of Pakistan’s attempts to bring international action in their own backyard.

“All players understand the impact that not playing at home has had on cricket in Pakistan,” he said. “Several of our players took part in the World XI and Pakistan Super League matches in Pakistan, and they are supportive.”

West Indies are not the first international team to tour Pakistan since the 2009 attack on Sri Lankan cricketers but being the current World Twenty20 champions they certainly are the most high-profile side to play in Pakistan in nine years.

In 2015, Zimbabwe played a brief limited-overs series in Lahore over the course of 10 days. Thereafter, the final of the PSL was staged at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore in 2017, and Karachi held the last few matches of the 2018 edition earlier this week.

In September 2017, a World XI side, comprising the likes of Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, George Bailey, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy, played a three-match T20 series in Lahore too. And in October, crucially, Sri Lanka returned to Pakistan, eight years after that attack, to play the last T20I of their three-match series in Lahore.

There is, Grave said, a mutual support system among the cricket boards to help each other out.

“The World XI games were a clear indication from the PCB that it was manageable for international cricket to return to Pakistan,” he said. “All boards want to be playing at home, on home soil, in front of the home fans. Pakistan were being forced to play away (in the UAE) for so long that everyone in world cricket was supportive of cricket returning to Pakistan.

“We weren’t scheduled to play them for a few years. But they approached us, and proposed the No.1 T20I side play the reigning World T20 champions in a three-match series in Pakistan. We’ve always been very supportive of Pakistan cricket and we wanted to do our best to support them. As soon as we received the security go-ahead, we approached WIPA (West Indies Players Association) and the players to get their support.”

“These are not exhibition games,” he said. “They are important, full internationals, and they will showcase the next generation of Windies stars. We’ll be looking to climb up the rankings (with victory in the series) and build our white-ball team ahead of World T20 2020.”

As regards any West Indies players who choose not to travel, Grave said, “We fully accept that position and it will not be held against them."

As for matters of on-field performance, Grave is confident that despite West Indies having had to qualify for the Cricket World Cup at the CWC Qualifier due to their low ranking, that experience should stand them in good stead going forward.

“We can now start to plan and do everything we can to try and win our third World Cup. The challenge is to be consistent. In knock-out cricket under intense pressure anyone can beat anyone. It’s just about handling the pressure.

“There was relief at our qualification – we were under real pressure, the schedule was tough, teams were playing seven games pretty much back-to-back. It was a real physical and mental test.”

He also lauded the overall standard of the competition.

“The quality of the games was high,” he said. “Irrespective of fact that we were favourites, we were playing against very good sides. There were four Full Members and only two slots available, the challenge was to cope with the pressure and conditions. We lost to Afghanistan but beat everyone else. Other Full Members would have found it challenging too.”

Grave believes that the change in format going into this series should benefit West Indies.

“We are naturally suited to T20 with our style of white ball cricket,” he said. “Ours is a power game, hitting boundaries. We are always confident in T20.”