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Cricket back to Pakistan: Who is the credit-holder?

Writer's picture: Hammad SiddiqueHammad Siddique

After the March 2009 bout on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the visitors repudiated to persist their tour and headed back to Sri Lanka. This proved to be a major blow for cricket in Pakistan and illustrated the inability and lethargy of the host’s security forces.


After this calamity, even rest of the cricketing nations shunned touring Pakistan. For the next six years, there took place, no international cricket in Pakistan. During this punitive tenure, cricketing events which were to be hosted by Pakistan, were held in United Arab Emirates.


The then chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) i.e. Shahryar Khan, didn’t even bother to invite teams to Pakistan. But in 2015, the chairman of PCB, Najam Sethi, invited the cricket team of Zimbabwe to tour Pakistan and play three ODI’s and two T20 matches in Pakistan and so the team arrived in May to play the decided matches. All the fixtures were held in Lahore’s Gadhafi Stadium and both the series were won by the hosts. This tour went perfect without any hurdles and interruptions except that in the third ODI rain stopped play and the match was abandoned.



Afterwards, in the September of 2017, World XI came to Pakistan to play three T20 matches therein. The series was cliched by Pakistan with a 2–1 series score. This also was a smooth and error-free tour and helped in returning cricket back to Pakistan. This trio of T20 contests was also held at Lahore’s Gadhafi Stadium.


After this successful occasion, the Sri Lankan cricket team was asked to visit Pakistan in 2017, where they were invited to conclude a T20 series at Lahore’s Gadhafi Stadium, which had commenced in UAE. The invitation was accepted and a brief visit by the Sri Lankan team followed in October. The fixture went perfect and this proved to be another success in returning cricket back to Pakistan.


Another accomplishment, in the history of cricket in Pakistan, came when the cricket team of West Indies agreed to tour Pakistan in April 2018. A three-match T20 series was held at the same venue, where the maiden T20 match was played with Sri Lanka. His was a whitewash as all the three matches were lop-sided and had been won by Pakistan. This helped in removing fear of playing cricket in Pakistan, from the hearts of many players.


Then the islanders of the sub-continent again visited Pakistan in December 2019. And two test matches were played there. One was held at Rawalpindi and the other at Karachi. This was a remarkable occasion as now international teams had agreed to play test matches in Pakistan, which depicts that the fear of dearth of security in Pakistan has been perished and cricket has resumed in Pakistan in all formats.


In the month of January in 2020, Bangladesh expressed their interest for touring Pakistan, when PCB contacted Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and summoned the Bangladeshis to Pakistan for playing cricket. So it was decided that three T20 matches, one ODI match and two test matches would be played. Initially the BCB were hesitant in playing test matches in Pakistan and favored a neutral venue for the fixtures but PCB protested, stating that now the security issue is an excuse for not visiting Pakistan. So then it was decided, after consultation with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that all the matches would take place in Pakistan but the tour was divided into three sections, one for a three T20’s, one for a test match and the last for one test match and the maiden ODI match. The last batch was to occur after the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but was unable to be held due to corona virus pandemic.


The biggest feat that confirmed that return of cricket to Pakistan was the fifth season of the PSL. This league started on 20th April, 2020 and was planned to be held at four venues across Pakistan. These were Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan. The event went with considerable tranquil except for the play-offs and the final, which were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the good news is that out of the 34 fixtures of PSL, 30 were held safely which proved that Pakistan is a safe place for cricket. A few statements, by a variety of players in favor of playing cricket in Pakistan, cemented the fact that the country is safe for cricket. But who is the credit-holder for bringing cricket back to Pakistan? Let’s find out.

First of all, it was the former chairman of PCB who played a vital role in bringing cricket back to Pakistan. Najam Sethi, who was hyperactive during his tenure of chairmanship, took the first step to return cricket back to Pakistan. He invited and rather persuaded the Zimbabweans to visit Pakistan and then with the passage of time, different nations toured Pakistan in order to play cricket and the visits went very fruitful.




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