ISLAMABAD: A four-member sec­urity delegation from Cricket South Africa (CSA) headed by Mookesh Gajjar arrived here in Islamabad on Monday ahead of Proteas’ planned tour to Pakistan early next year.

The delegation also includes Stephen Craig Cook, Rory Steyn and Mohamed Zunaid Wadee.

South African are expected to tour Pakistan in January-February 2021 to play two Tests and three Twenty20 Internationals. However, final dates of the tour are yet to be announced.

The CSA delegation will assess the security situation in and around the proposed venues during its stay in Pakistan.

The delegation will watch the third and last One-day International between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Later, it will also visit Karachi and Lahore.

Meanwhile upon their arrival in Islamabad, the members of the CSA delegation underwent Covid-19 tests.

Besides South Africa, Pakistan are vying to host England and Australia in 2021 and 2022, respectively. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani in his media talk on Sunday had said these short tours were highly important for Pakistan and, if materliased, would give a very positive message from the country to the rest of the world.

Mani thanked Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe for sending their full-strength teams to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2020