KARACHI:
Cricket used to be fun. Now it’s a full-blown hostage situation in Lahore. As soon as the PSL rolls in, our cities transform into hostage zones. Roads blocked, sirens blaring, ambulances stuck and the common man treated like an intruder in his own town. All this — not for a war — but for a six over midwicket.
The Pakistan Cricket Board’s strategy seems simple: hold matches like it’s Judgement Day and let the public suffer in the name of “national pride”. We love cricket. But not the version that tramples over school runs, wedding days and dialysis appointments.
The Australian team is currently touring, and I have become a personal hostage to this cricket lockdown siege. Whenever a foreign team feels like taking a stroll or playing a casual game of padel near my workplace, the entire area is caged, barricaded and sealed within moments. No thought is given to people who need to commute, reach jobs or simply live.
With due respect, we don’t want this version of cricket. Not when it costs us our daily life, our peace of mind and our basic freedom to move. Dear PCB, we are not against cricket — just against treating the city like it’s under siege for it. Let us breathe.
Waqar Hassan Randhawa
Lahore
