Pakistan plan to bring Super League home

Pakistan could once again host the world’s finest cricketers after the chairman of the Pakistan Super League confirmed he’s aiming to get commitments from leading international players to travel to Lahore for the final of the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Pakistan hasn’t hosted a Test tour since the Sri Lanka cricket team had their bus attacked by terrorists in 2009, while the inaugural edition of the PSL was held entirely in Dubai.

That tournament drew a number of high-profile international players, including Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen and Andre Russell.

PSL chairman Najam Sethi believes if enough internationals on team rosters agree to travel to Lahore if their side makes the final, it could pave the way for the return of top-flight cricket to Pakistan.

"All systems being put in place," Sethi told ESPNcricinfo. "We are in the process of signing up top foreign players who are ready to play in Lahore if their team gets into the final.

"All we need are 10 top foreign players. If there are some foreign players among the finalists who are not prepared to play in Lahore, we will have an arrangement with others who don't make it to the finals, and facilitate the finalist franchisees to select from that pool of players who are available to play in Lahore."

Pakistan remarkably recently became the No.1 ranked Test side on the International Cricket Council charts despite their significant handicap.

Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has spoken of the challenges of constantly playing away from Pakistan, with their ‘home’ matches played at neutral venues in the UAE.

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Zimbabwe became the first Test-playing nation to tour of Pakistan since 2009 in May last year.

Their visit, consisting of two T20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals, all in Lahore, was well-received, though the International Cricket Council refused to send match officials for the series.

The West Indies showed interest in playing two T20Is in Pakistan but eventually pulled out after a suicide bombing in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore killed 75 people.

Sethi is nonetheless optimistic of the PSL final being hosted in Pakistan and suggests international cricket could also be played there in the not-too-distant future.

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"Most importantly, the government has succeeded in uprooting most terrorist groups from Punjab,” Sethi said of Pakistan’s most populous province, of which Lahore is the capital.

“This fact is not lost on the ICC members. Foreign teams will come to Pakistan step by step. Ireland are ready to visit on the right financial terms because Zimbabwe showed the way.

“The West Indies were in discussions with us but pulled back when the Gulshan bomb went off.

“If we can demonstrate a successful PSL final in Lahore the message will go out loud and clear that at least short tours in one venue are possible.

“I personally think that by next year we should be able to hold T20 and ODI matches in Lahore or Karachi with foreign teams."