LAHORE: A special security team of the International Cricket Council (ICC) visited Gaddafi Stadium here Tuesday to review security arrangements for the upcoming World XI’s tour to Pakistan. The two-member ICC team had arrived in Lahore on Monday to evaluate the security arrangements for the series, dubbed as the ‘Independence Cup 2017’, which will be played on September 12, 13 and 15 at Gaddafi Stadium, which hosted the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final earlier this year. The officials from the Pakistan Cricket Board briefed the ICC team on the security plan for the World XI squad, which will be captained by South Africa’s Faf du Plessis and comprises a star-studded lineup of 14 players from seven different countries. Meanwhile, the tickets for the highly-anticipated Pakistan vs World XI series are selling out fast. General Stand and VVIP tickets, costing Rs500 and Rs8,000 respectively, have already sold out online. Rs2,500, Rs4,000 and Rs6,000 tickets are still available to grab on eticketing.pk. Tickets at physical outlets are yet to be made available in places across the city. The World XI squad is set to arrive in Lahore on September 11, a day before the start of the series. Captain Faf du Plessis is scheduled to address a press conference a few hours later that day. The team will then attend a practice session at Gaddafi Stadium in the evening.
World XI squad: Faf du Plessis (captain, South Africa), Hashim Amla (South Africa), Samuel Badree (West Indies), George Bailey (Australia), Paul Collingwood (England), Ben Cutting (Australia), Grant Elliott (New Zealand), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), David Miller (South Africa), Morne Morkel (South Africa), Tim Paine (wicketkeeper) (Australia), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Darren Sammy (West Indies).
Pakistan squad:
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain) (wicket-keeper), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Umer Amin, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Sohail Khan.