Pakistan Players Leave for SLPL today

A group of Pakistan cricketers, including Shahid Afridi, will leave today (7) to participate in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) that gets underway from August 10.
As many as 14 national cricketers signed a contract to take part in the league  and received permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The players include Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Misbahul Haq, Imran Nazir, Ahmad Shahzad, Azhar Mehmood, Abdul Rehman, Hammad Azam and Imran Farhat.
Owing to the players’ participation, the team management decided against organising an extensive training camp for the series against Australia which will be followed by the Word Twenty20 to be played in September and October.
Meanwhile, a senior team member said the SLPL will provide the perfect training for the two important assignments.
“We will take on the world’s top cricketers,” the player told. “The SLPL will give perfect match practice and that will be better than a training camp. In addition, we will play the World Twenty20 games at the same venues where we will play the SLPL matches. This will help us get acclimatised to the conditions early.”