After the attack in
2009 on Sri Lankan cricket team, Pakistan became a “no-go area” for
international teams but long before this the major cricket playing nations like
Australia & South Africa became circumspect in touring Pakistan when the
New Zealand team was attacked back in 2002.It was quite a blow back to the
cricket lovers here in Karachi as it has been hosting matches every year at the
very popular National Stadium.
It was a ground that
welcomed the top teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, India, Sri Lanka,
West Indies & South Africa from 1980-2002. The cheers and the roars of the
crowd echoed in the ground and its reminiscence can still be felt. The city
that was known as the “city of lights” and for its famous “hippie trail” lost
everything at the hands of religion except sports but the monster of terrorism
succeeded in piercing its jaws deep into international cricket.
It was 21st April
2002 when New Zealand team played its last ODI in Karachi. But since then
Karachi could never host the black caps, Kangaroos & English again because
of that ill-fated bomb blast attack on Kiwis during the same tour. Since then
only four cricket playing nations named India, Srilanka, Bangladesh &
Zimbabwe visited Pakistan till 2009. During this period Sri Lankans were the
only nation who persisted with touring Pakistan regularly & tried their
level best to keep international cricket alive in country until they were
attacked on their way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in the year 2009, putting an
end to the glorious chapter of international cricket in Pakistan.
PCB and government did
little to restore peace and convince the international teams to revisit Pakistan
for cricket. Like its tourist destinations, the Pakistani cricket grounds were
left barren not even attracting the locals to congregate matches. It was 2006
when hopes of die-hard cricket lovers in Pakistan went high, with the decision
of ICC to announce Pakistan as the host nation for world cup 2011. Those hopes
even died when ICC later on decided to shift the venues from Pakistan to India,
Bangladesh & Srilanka due to security threats.
After that, even our
countrymen lost the faith in the restoration of peace as well as cricket in
Pakistan until October20, 2012. When under the captaincy of Sanath Jaysuria, top former and current cricket players from South Africa,
West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan played their first World XI match in the
ever-known National Stadium.
The stadium attracted
flocks of cricket lovers who fervently came to see the much loved sport for
continuously two days. It was a full house for both the matches as
youngsters & families had come in large numbers to support their national
heroes back to international arena. It was the effort of Sindh Sports Minister
and the international players who did their utmost to revive cricket in Karachi
and giving National Stadium its old status. We as a nation pay tribute to the
international players from all the four countries with special thanks to Sanath
Jaisuria who agreed to come to Pakistan with all odds.
We as nation
hope that these matches will prove to be a new beginning for the revival of
international cricket in Pakistan. We look for a comeback of those days when
cricket was much thrived into the veins of every Karachiite and Pakistani with
a promise of security for the life of every citizen and visitor, be it a
sportsman or a hippie on his trail for enlightenment.