The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked for security clearance from the Sindh provincial government for conducting a national T20 championship during the month of Ramzan.
"We have now written to the concerned departments in Sindh asking for their input and basically clearance for the tournament as we need to have top level security arrangements for it," a senior PCB official said.
It is the first time the PCB has announced it would be holding a Ramzan T20 Cup, which has been a private affair in the past. But commercial interest and huge crowds that tournament attracts, has caught the attention of the PCB.
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"The problem is that the Board has already sold the broadcasting rights for the Ramzan event and the new Chairman Najam Sethi has also said it is important to have the event to show to the international community that cricket goes on in Pakistan," one official said.
Interestingly, the Board is also considering disciplinary action against its director-general cricket Javed Miandad for adopting a different stance on the event. "The Board is not happy that Miandad called up some departments and encouraged them to write letters to the Board asking for the Ramzan Cup to be called off on grounds of security issues in Karachi and shortage of players.
On Wednesday, a bomb blast targeted the convoy of the acting chief justice of the Sindh Court on the busy Burns Road in Karachi. Although he escaped, there were nine casualties.u00a0
"Two leading banks raised a hue and cry over the tournament insisting they couldn't field a strong team as most of their top players were either on Pakistan duty or playing in England. But the Board has allowed the participating teams to field guest players from their regions," a source said.
Habib Bank, National bank, United Bank, PIA, State Bank, Port Qasim Authority, Wapda and KRL have been invited to take part in the Ramzan Cup which is to be held under lights at the national stadium.
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