Lahore: Playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League will benefit the Pakistani cricketers ahead of the series against Australia and the World T20 in the island nation, feels national team coach Dav Whatmore.

"It is a good thing most of the selected players are playing in the league in conditions where they have to play their World Cup matches," he said on Friday. He pointed out that even other countries had allowed their players to take part in the SLPL for the same purpose.

"I have no problems with the players appearing in the SPLC instead of a camp because they are getting competitive matches and playing against top players," he said.

The Sri Lankan-born former Australian player also felt that countries had now started to take the shortest format of the sport seriously unlike in the past.

"Countries are now taking the T20 format seriously and banking on building specialist squads. It will make this World Cup a very close and competitive one for all participating nations," he said.

Pakistan play Australia in a one-day series from August 28 in the UAE and than three T20 matches in Dubai from September 5, before moving onto the World Cup, which begins from September 18.

Whatmore noted that the growing number of professional T20 leagues have increased the value of the format and allowed players to adjust their games accordingly.

"I think we have a very good squad for the T20 World Cup, it is balanced and we have some competitive players. We tend to do well in this event," he added.

Pakistan were beaten by India in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa but went on to win the next edition in England in 2009.

They also reached the semi-finals of the last T20 World Cup, held in the West Indies in 2010. Most countries including India, Bangladesh, Australia, England and South Africa are hosting professional T20 leagues with participation of overseas players.

Source : CricketNext