Afghan cricket team presents a signed bat to Imran Khan in Kabul. Twitter photo

Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited Afghan cricket team to tour Pakistan during his maiden Kabul visit, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Wasim Khan said on Monday.

Wasim, according to local media report, said the talks with the Afghanistan cricket officials will soon be initiated to explore the possibilities.

“The two boards will work together to open a window in this regard and every effort will be made to make the series possible. As we all know that next year of Pakistan team is very busy, we will try to open a window for Afghanistan.

“If next year’s window is not possible, we will make it possible in 2022 and for that we need immediate action,” he added.

Wasim said that Pakistan has supported the Afghan cricket team from the beginning and Rashid Latif and Inzamam-ul Haq had trained them.

He said that in the difficult situation of the coronavirus pandemic, the expenditure of the board has increased as more than 2,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted.

“Hotel accommodation and air travel costs have all gone up, but we will not call it an expense, it is an investment, we will continue to invest because of cricket because this investment will benefit the country.”

“We launched domestic cricket activities at the end of September, including under-19, series against Zimbabwe and PSL matches, which benefited the hotel industry,” he said.

“Hotel industry experts tell us that they have secured 5,000 jobs in the current situation,” he added.

He said that the players and other people involved in sports activities stayed in five-star and four-star hotels, due to which the hotel business flourished.

Wasim said that PSL 6 and South African cricket team visit will also benefit the economy.

“We will continue to contribute to the country’s economy,” he said.