Karachi set to host 3 T20s against West Indies

Pakistan gets another chance to showcase its ability to host international cricket when West Indies starts a three-match Twenty20 series tomorrow in Karachi.

The southern port city had a successful dress rehearsal for the April 1-3 games when it hosted the Pakistan Super League final last week.

Although it was a domestic T20 final, several foreign players including former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, South Africa's JP Duminy and Luke Ronchi of New Zealand took part and were provided with almost presidential-like security.

Karachi last hosted an international game in 2009 when Sri Lanka played a test match before an attack by gunmen on its team bus in Lahore shut the door on international cricket in Pakistan. Six Pakistan policemen and two civilians were killed in that attack, and six members of the Sri Lanka team were injured.

But the Pakistan Cricket Board has accelerated its efforts to win back the confidence of overseas cricket teams in the last two years.

Lahore hosted Zimbabwe in 2015, and Sri Lanka returned in 2017.

The tour of West Indies, which will play three straight Twenty20s, is seen as another step toward the revival of full-fledged international cricket in Pakistan.

Around 6,000 security personnel will guard the area around the National Stadium and armed guards will travel with the West Indies team from its hotel to the stadium.

"This tour is a further major step for our friends at the PCB to bring their cricket back home, and we are pleased that our players and support staff have recognized this and supported this venture," Cricket West Indies chief executive Johnny Grave said.

"We have made it very clear to the players and support staff that had personal reservations about this tour that we fully understand and respect their position."