England’s cricket squad landed in Pakistan on Thursday, after a gap of 17 years, as part of the first leg of the tour. The English side is slated to play 7 T20Is from September 20 to October 2 against the home side. In the second leg of the tour, England will visit Pakistan once again this year and will lock horns in three Test matches to be played from December 1 to December 21.
England last played in Pakistan in 2005 and were to visit again last year until pulling out at short notice citing "mental and physical well-being" of players.
Over the past five years, international cricket has gradually returned to Pakistan and earlier this year Australia toured successfully for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
Chris Jordan, a fast-medium bowler for England, thinks that the tour of Pakistan will be essential for re-establishing calm in the cricket-obsessed country.
"Pakistan is a part of the world cricket fraternity and they should be able to see their favourite players. The guys will have a great time. The wickets should be good and it should make for good cricket," Chris Jordan said on the tour of Pakistan.
Due to a fractured middle finger in his right hand, Jordan will miss England's first official tour of Pakistan in 17 years.
Pakistan was forced to play international games in neutral locations like the UAE following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) remains confident that England's tour of Pakistan will go ahead without a hitch, stating that the Australia series had "proved our event planning and operational expertise."
Routes between the England team hotels and Karachi's National stadium will be closed off and guarded by security personnel on game days. Their route will be monitored by a chopper, and shops that have stadium views will be required to close.
Pakistan struggles to recover from devastating floods that have affected at least 33 million people and flooded roughly a third of the nation.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) stated last month that in the middle of a humanitarian crisis the team's tour will be a "positive" gesture.
“I think hopefully us going out there and playing will be a positive for what's been a pretty harrowing time for the people of that country,” stated Rob Key, Managing Director of England men's cricket team.