PSL final: a new hope

For too long, Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium has been asleep. For too long has it been deserted. Today it will wake up again and roar once more. Just like it did during happier times. The PSL final between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi, will be like manna to the cricket-starved people of the country. Gaddafi’s official capacity is 27,000 but often more are cramped into its packed stands. The PCB could have sold out three Gaddafi Stadiums and still fail to satisfy the demand for tickets.

It didn’t matter that Lahore’s side Qalandars were not going to feature. It didn’t matter that the second team for the final wasn’t even decided when the tickets went on sale. It didn’t matter that star turn Shahid Khan Afridi will not be there after injuring his hand in his side’s last match. All that matters was the return of cricket.

For many, bringing cricket back to Pakistan is not the right decision. They felt now is not the right time to bring it back, pointing to the sudden wave of terrorist attacks in the country. Others argue this will not convince international teams to come to the country as it is, so why bother? But this is not the time to be thinking across such cold harsh lines. This is the time to celebrate the passion surging through the crowd, to enjoy the pure emotions felt by each and every man and woman inside the Gaddafi for those three hours. If hearing the roar of the crowd inside the Gaddafi does not give you goosebumps, then you may question this decision. If you can somehow quantify what cricket means to Pakistan’s 200 million, then you may question this decision. If you do not smile at the thought of the country’s young children finally getting to see their heroes in person, then you may question this decision.

But if you, like the rest of us, aren’t completely devoid of emotion, then this is the time to celebrate this victory, not debate how big it is.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2017.

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