Pakistan is hoping that hosting its first major multi-country cricket tournament in nearly 30 years will help erase worries of instability in the country and restore confidence in it as a tourism and investment destination.

Bitter rivals India and Pakistan rarely play each other on the cricket field, but when they do there is an unparalleled thirst for tickets.

The sixth edition of the Champions Trophy was narrowing down towards the semifinal stage. Of the eight teams split into two groups, four would make it to the knockouts. Two from each group would go through and two each would head home.

Pakistan will host a first major multi-country cricket tournament in nearly three decades next week and its cricket chief is hopeful that a successful Champions Trophy will bring a flood of other such events.