ISLAMABAD: Cricket fans in Pakistan are buzzing ahead of the Champions Trophy and hosting the elite one-day international tournament will rekindle the country’s love affair with the sport, three former captains said.
The event, which features the sport’s top eight sides in the ODI format, begins on Wednesday with the hosts up against New Zealand in Karachi.
It will be the first major global tournament hosted by Pakistan in nearly 30 years and former batting great Inzamam Ul Haq told Reuters there was no escaping the excitement in the lead-up to the event.
“Right now everyone is talking about the Champions Trophy, in schools, houses, markets, offices, everywhere,” he added.
Pakistan spent nearly a decade in the wilderness after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players.
Top teams shunned Pakistan after the 2009 attack and it took the Pakistan Cricket Board years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.
“The events of 2009 feel like a bad dream,” Inzamam said. “We were punished for 10 years. Our cricket went backwards.”
The national team, captained for the bulk of those years by Misbah Ul Haq, hosted its ‘home’ games in the United Arab Emirates and remained relatively successful until fixtures trickled back onto Pakistani soil in 2018.
“For fans and young cricketers to see the stars playing live is a big deal,” said Misbah, Pakistan’s most successful test captain. “Not having that meant the whole cricket machinery was jammed.”
Former captain Aamer Sohail said the connection between fans and players was evident at Wednesday’s warm-up game against South Africa where Pakistan reeled in the visitors’ 352 to complete their highest successful ODI run chase.
“What was heartening in yesterday’s game is that people turned up and then the players turned up. It was kind of reciprocating, wasn’t it?” added Sohail.
The Champions Trophy was discontinued by the International Cricket Council after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in the final.
Should both teams reach the title decider when it returns to the calendar, Pakistan will not have the advantage of playing at home as India are playing all their matches in Dubai due to political tensions.
“A Pakistan-India match is not just a game of cricket, it’s a game of expectations, of emotions,” said Misbah.
Inzamam recalled a 2004 ODI against India in Karachi where he scored a thrilling hundred in a losing chase.
“I got a standing ovation but so did the Indian team for their performance,” he said. “Supporters from both sides would have wanted to see this match.”
Sohail will forever be remembered for one of the most famous on-field spats with Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals, the last major event played in Pakistan.
“It’s not just important for both the countries, I think this rivalry is important for international cricket,” he said.
