It may sound a cliché, but it fits the situation perfectly well: Team Pakistan may have lost the match — well the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup against the Australians — but they indeed won the hearts, of not just the Pakistan nation, but of fans and experts of the game of cricket wherever it is played. Pakistan’s all-round performance won them the plaudits as never before, especially given the circumstances in which they had toured the UAE to take part in the world contest. Remember, the New Zealand cricket team had had a last minute pullout from a home series of Pakistan, and that was followed by the English cricket board cancelling a scheduled tour of the country.
Pakistan has suffered a drought of international cricket since the 2009 terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and it has been only recently that top foreign teams have started agreeing to visit Pakistan. Amid all that PSL had been our sole saviour as regards providing local players the kind of exposure needed for top-level international cricket. Even the country’s premier league too started off as a foreign venture, played in the UAE. However, now having organised its six editions, the PSL has gained acceptance among foreign players and officials, and is now being completely played on local venues. Much of the credit for Pakistan’s unbeaten run to the last four stage of the T20 World Cup goes to PSL which produced so many exciting cricketers who bolstered Pakistan’s batting and blowing departments. Pakistani players have also improved their performance in ground fielding and catching. PCB officials — both the incumbents and their predecessors — do deserved praise for raising a brand called PSL.
It has much to do with Pakistan’s great performance in the T20 World Cup that both England and New Zealand are now ready to tour Pakistan. And the Australian team too is scheduled to pay a visit to the country after nearly two and a half decades.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2021.
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