Malaysia has once again pitched itself as viable alternative home for Pakistan cricket as it seeks the return of high level international cricket in the South East Asian region.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi had recently travelled to the country to inspect the infrastructure in place in their bid to seek an alternative venue for its home matches in the UAE.
With the recent emergence of T20 and T10 leagues in the UAE, the prospect of scheduling conflicts has led the PCB to seek alternatives and Malaysia was one of the countries being looked at by the cricketing board.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) president Mahinda Vallipuram has pitched the country as a possible venue for Pakistan women cricket team matches along with the PSL T20 league.
“We certainly would like to host events here. We are open to hosting as we have venues and other required infrastructure. It (Sethi’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,” he was quoted as saying.
Malaysia has previously hosted a three-nation ODI series.
“We would love to host Pakistan in some way, perhaps even matches in the PSL or women’s cricket,” Vallipuram added.
Vallipuram believes that bringing the Pakistan team to play cricket in the country could be a tremendous boost to the sport in the region as a whole.
“Having Pakistan playing in Malaysia and major matches staged here would be a tremendous boost to cricket in South-East Asia. 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,” he said.
