It has been a very long wait for both, the cricket fans and cricket stadiums in Pakistan to witness this sport come home with all its international formats. A decade long wait to be exact. This long wait wasn’t easy for the cricket fan-base in Pakistan. It is quite evident by the fact that Pakistani fans celebrated a tour of Zimbabwe as if it was World Cup for us.
From the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore before a test match to Sri Lankan team coming back to Pakistan for 2 test matches, it has been a long decade.
Cricket slowly and steadily started coming back home. Started with Zimbabwe’s tour followed by a T20 between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Then PSL fixtures started heading to National Stadiums. In all this came a Pakistan Vs World XI series of 3 T20s.
Then came by a wave of happiness and excitement for all the fans when it was announced that PSL5’s all fixtures will be in Pakistan. To add up to this excitement, Sri Lanka agreed to play a 2 match test series in Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Test Cricket Championship. This decade long wait has been very taxing for the Nation as a whole. Not seeing the most loved sport in the country in the National Grounds was not something that delighted Pakistanis.
It’s been a long wait for the empty stands and the waiting fans. The future of the sport now seems bright in Pakistan with the doors of International cricket reopened after a decade long wait.
Image Credits- Hindustan Times