LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf on Saturday said that international cricket will soon return to Pakistan, underlining the ICC was fully backing Pakistan on resumption of international contests in the country.

“The ICC fully supports Pakistan as far as the return of international cricket is concerned and it [ICC] is very serious on this issue. And we are confident that we will see international cricket activity in our own backyard in the near future,” Zaka said here on Friday after returning from Sri Lanka.

As PCB chairman, Zaka stressed, his immediate responsibility was to ensure the return of international cricket to Pakistan, adding he was making strenuous efforts together with the ICC to address this most demanding issue.

“We have been playing our [home] international series abroad for the last three and a half years to fulfil our international commitments.

“And it is a positive sign that we are making gradual progress to see that international cricket will soon return to Pakistan,” he remarked.

The PCB chief highlighted that he had been lobbying for the resumption of international cricket in Pakistan by taking into confidence prominent former cricketers from whom, Zaka added, he would also seek their input in this regard. —APP