Pakistan's Lahore Lions granted Indian visas to play in Champions League Twenty20

Ending days of speculation on whether the Lahore Lions would play in the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 in India, the Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday said the team has been issued visa and clearance for the tournament. “The Indian High Commission has issued visas and we have received the tickets for the Lahore Lions to travel to India on schedule on September 9,” an official of the Board told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_1702303” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The CLT20 and the Big Bash trophies during a match in Australia. Getty Images[/caption] He described the development as very positive and said it would pave the way for PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, to have meaningful and constructive discussions with the BCCI officials in near future. “It means that we can now also discuss the issue of Pakistani players being allowed in the IPL and the bilateral series agreement,” he said. The Lahore Lions led by Muhammad Hafeez is due to play the qualifying matches of the Champions League. Interestingly, if the team qualifies for the main rounds than it will miss the National Twenty20 Regional Tournament being held in Multan from September 16 to 28. “Even if Lahore Lions qualify for the main rounds it will get a direct entry into the national T20 super eight event which will be held next year,” the official said. He said the winner of the super eight event was given the right to represent Pakistan in the CLT20. In the past two years the Sialkot Stallions and Faisalabad Wolves have represented Pakistan in the lucrative Champions League on basis of being the national T20 champions. The Lahore Lions team includes several current Pakistan team members including Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Wahab Riaz. PTI