Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik urges foreign cricketers to play PSL final in Lahore

Karachi: All-rounder and Karachi Kings player Shoaib Malik has revealed that he is trying to convince international cricketers playing in his team to visit Lahore for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final on March 5.

Earlier, there were doubts whether the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would hold the PSL final in Lahore following the February 13 suicide bombing in which 13 people were killed.

However, in a meeting held last week between the PSL management and the five franchise owners in Dubai, it was decided the summit clash of the tournament would be held in Lahore as per schedule.

Malik said that he had informed the players that his wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza doesn`t take security whenever she travels Pakistan.

"I don`t take security at home. I have informed the players here that my wife is an Indian national and even she doesn`t take security whenever she visits Pakistan," the Dawn quoted Malik as saying.

When asked where PSL stands compared to other international T20 leagues, Malik insisted that it would be unfair to compare leagues before predicting that the Pakistan league would get better in the coming days.

"Though I don`t think it`s fair to compare leagues, I think going by the standard of cricket after Big Bash, PSL takes the stand. And by God`s grace it`s getting better day by day," he said.

Malik also expressed satisfaction on his team`s performance, saying that Karachi Kings has been performing comparatively better this season.

The former Pakistan skipper, however, added that there performance is still not up to the mark.The league will now give franchisees the option to draft new players in case contracted international stars opt out of the March 5 final due to security reasons.

It should be noted that Pakistan have not hosted any international cricket tournaments since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009,when six Pakistani Policemen were killed and some of the visiting players were injured.