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Karachi — Recently crowned World Twenty20 champions the West Indies have turned down a request from Pakistan to play matches in the militancy-wracked South Asian country due to security fears, a senior official said yesterday. Pakistan are due to host the West Indies in two Tests, five one-day and two Twenty20 internationals in September and October this year.

Nearly all the country’s home series have been played in the neutral grounds of the UAE since a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, but Pakistan had hoped the T20 leg of West Indies’ tour could be played in Lahore.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said: “We wanted the Twenty20s to be played in Pakistan and made an effort but the West Indies Cricket Board have refused saying they’ve security fears, so the full series will be played in (the) United Arab Emirates.”

The West Indies’ refusal came after a suicide bomber killed 73 people in a park in Lahore on Easter Sunday last month.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the Taliban faction that carried out the bombing, said Christians were the target of the attack.

Pakistan hosted Zimbabwe for two Twenty20s and three one-day internationals in Lahore last year hoping the tour would pave the way for more international teams to visit — a hope that has yet to be realised.

Meanwhile, Inzamam-ul-Haq has been appointed chief selector of Pakistan. Inzamam, a former Pakistan captain, was the head coach of Afghanistan since October 2015, and was originally contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board until December 2016. But ACB chief Shafiq Stanikzai, on Saturday, said they were ready to release him.

This will be Inzamam’s first time as a selector, although he had worked with the Pakistan team before. He was their batting consultant for a brief period in 2012-13.

The PCB has not set a fixed term for Inzamam’s tenure. He heads a panel that includes former opening batsman Wajahatullah Wasti, Tauseef Ahmed, an offspinner who played 34 Tests and 70 ODIs, and seam-bowling allrounder Wasim Haider, who played three ODIs and over 100 first-class and List A matches.

“I’ve played a lot for Pakistan but it’s for the first time that I’ve come (as selector) and the PCB has given me such an important responsibility,” Inzamam said. “I want to thank ACB that they allowed me to do national duty. The three selectors should be involved in first-class cricket and (we’ve) one fast bowler, one spinner and one batsman so that we can cover three sectors.”

Inzamam’s appointment comes in the wake of several changes in Pakistan cricket. His former team-mate Waqar Younis had stepped down as coach on April 4, a day after Shahid Afridi relinquished his T20 captaincy. This shake-up was the result of a poor 2016 for Pakistan. They lost the T20 and the ODI series in New Zealand in January. They lost two of their four matches in the Asia Cup T20 in February and in the ensuing World T20, they lost three out of four games. In both tournaments, they could make it beyond the first round.

Performance reports from Waqar and team manager Intikhab Alam had made several points pertaining to selections. Waqar had recommended that the chief selector “should be someone who has played modern-era cricket and has a positive vision” and had recommended Inzamam for the job.

Pakistan’s next assignment is a full tour of England — four Tests, five ODIs and a lone T20I — that starts in July. Inzamam cautioned against expecting an immediate change in performance.

Inzamam is Pakistan’s highest run-getter in ODIs with 11,701 runs in 375 matches, and their third-highest in Tests with 8,829 runs in 119 matches. He was also among the country’s most distuinguished captains and as selector, he wanted to make sure the captain remained the “main man”.

Pakistan bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed, who was rested for the Asia Cup and World T20, has assumed the role of coach at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. — AFP/Cricinfo