Chinese cricketers to play in Pakistan

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Two Chinese national team cricketers joined a Pakistan Super League (PSL) team on Friday. The team management said the inclusion of the players would promote the game in China.

The Chinese players, Li Jian and Zhang Yufei, will be part of Peshawar Zalmi squad for the third edition of the PSL slated for February 2018.

Pakistani media quoted a news release by Peshawar Zalmi, announcing that the players were unveiled at a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad in the presence of former Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Chunxiang.

Speaking at the event, Zalmi's owner Javed Afridi expressed his happiness "to assist in top-notch coaching and mentoring of cricketers in China, but also providing them a platform to recognize their talent and motivate them to achieve international recognition."

Muhammad Akram, a team official, said that the Zulmi's coaching staff is scheduled to visit China for a seminar to begin collaboration with the Chinese board and conduct coaching programs to identify and groom young talent.

The PSL was inaugurated last year on the franchise model of Australia’s Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League.

The Pakistan Cricket Board sold five franchises for 93 million US dollars, attracting players from 11 countries, including England’s Kevin Pietersen, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and West Indies batsman Chris Gayle.

In only its second year, the Twenty20 PSL competition has become a massive hit in Pakistan and boasted a television viewership over 50 million people, according to a Reuters report.

Despite all the matches being played in the United Arab Emirates, national television viewing numbers outscored the 2015 World Cup, with 55 percent of the country's TV-watching public tuning into the competition at peak times.

World XI captain Faf du Plessis plays a shot during the first T20 international match between the World XI and Pakistan at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on September 12, 2017. /AFP Photo‍

The tournament returned home in March, when Peshawar Zalmi thrashed Quetta Gladiators to claim the title.

It was the first-ever PSL match to be played on home soil due to security fears in the South Asian nation.

The international cricket returned to Pakistan in September after eight years, with the country hosting a World XI cricket team for three T20 matches.

In 2009, militants ambushed the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in Lahore. Six players were injured while two civilians and six security officials were killed in the attack.

The Pakistan team has been playing its home series abroad as cricketing nations refused to visit the country on security grounds.