Are Malaysia willing to become Pakistan’s home venue?

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Mahinda Vallipuram Malaysia willing to become Pakistan home venue series Pakistan Super League PSL women's cricket

Mahinda Vallipuram: “We would love to host Pakistan in some way, perhaps even matches in the PSL or women’s cricket”

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Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) President Mahinda Vallipuram has confirmed that the country are more than willing to become Pakistan’s new home venue.

Pakistan have played most of their home series in the United Arab Emirates since the Sri Lankan team’s bus was attacked by armed militants in March 2009.

Furthermore, most Pakistan Super League (PSL) games have been held in the United Arab Emirates as well.

Even though international cricket is slowly trickling back to Pakistan, many international teams are still concerned about the security situation in the country and are not willing to travel there.

Since it is expensive for Pakistan to host matches in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi revealed that he was looking into whether Pakistan could host their home games in Malaysia.

When asked about Pakistan playing home series in Malaysia, Vallipuram told Cricbuzz: “We certainly would like to host events here. We are open to hosting as we have venues and other required infrastructure.”It (the PCB’s visit) was an opportunity to discuss how Malaysia can be a venue for Pakistan. It would be great to host Australia and New Zealand, two great cricketing countries. We would love to host Pakistan in some way, perhaps even matches in the PSL or women’s cricket.”

Vallipuram added that the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur is capable of hosting day-night Tests.

“We have shown we can host international matches and I think we have a very stable environment,” Vallipuram said. “We have lights at Kinrara Oval, which could host a day-night Test. Malaysia is an ideal destination as we have good hotels, transport and logistics.
“Malaysia is especially convenient for time zones. We are only a few hours ahead of the sub-continent, Australia is only two-three hours (eastern time) ahead and the UK is only six-seven hours difference.”Should Pakistan agree to play their home games in Malaysia, Vallipuram admitted that it will help develop the sport in the country and the Southeast Asian region.

“Having Pakistan playing in Malaysia and major matches staged here would be a tremendous boost to cricket in South-East Asia,” he said. “The game is growing steadily here but the exposure of major international cricket would fuel the uptick of the sport. Malaysia is a good hub for the Asian region.”

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