South Africa set to play their first Test in Pakistan in more than 13 years, veteran batsman Faf du Plessis said the security situation in the country, having been here a few times, has given him the peace of mind, reports Cricbuzz.
Du Plessis was the captain of the ICC World XI team that played three T20Is in Lahore and he was also part of the PSL recently, playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the 2020 playoffs. Having been to the country multiple times and having seen the security that has been in place, du Plessis feels his experiences here have made him feel safe.
“I think that was really important in the context of bringing cricket back to Pakistan. At that stage, there was zero cricket happening in Pakistan. That was the first step to bring any sort of cricket back and I think what they did really well at that stage was to bring players from all around the world to come and play here, to see that the security levels were going to be very, very good, and it gave players peace of mind. Obviously, I was there, I was captaining that team. So for me to go back to South Africa and speak of my experiences in Pakistan - I felt safe - that was a huge tip-in where we are today,” du Plessis told PCB Digital.
“I didn’t know how long it would take for international cricket to come back. At that stage, I knew it was the first step but I didn’t know how long it would take to get us here today. So then when I came back even for the PSL - which was a very, very short stint because we had a little gap in our scheduling - even that I didn’t know about the international tour. But now that we are officially back as an international team, back in Pakistan, I think it's how it should be,” he added.