LAHORE: Kenyan team will tour Pakistan as per the decided schedule as the Paki­stan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken the African country’s counterpart into confidence over the ongoing political turmoil in the country.

PCB chairman Shaharyar M. Khan told Dawn on Monday that the Board had again assured Kenyan cricket authorities full security to their team, and informed them that the current unrest in Pakistan was political and not related to terrorism.

“We are in touch with Cricket Kenya to take them into confidence over the current political situation [in Pakistan] and they are ready to visit Pakistan after the Paki­stan Cricket Board reassured them full security,” said the chairman.

Kenya’s national squad is scheduled to tour Pakistan from Dec 11 to Dec 21 to play five one-day games against Pakistan ‘A’. All matches will be staged at the Gaddafi Stadium.

The PCB believes Kenya’s visit to Pakistan may work as the first step towards revival of international cricket which has been suspended since March 2009 when armed terrorists attacked Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

However, given the ongoing political turmoil in the country with Imran Khan’s PTI protesting against government in different cities, an extra effort would be needed to provide foolproof security arrangements to visiting Kenyan cricket team in and around the Gaddafi Stadium.

Published in Dawn December 9th , 2014