So, you cannot dismiss Pakistan, however hard you try. Well, the context here is cricket. India made all efforts — and quite serious at that — to isolate Pakistan from big cricket. The Indian cricket board — of course toeing their government’s policy — closed the IPL’s doors to Pakistani cricketers after the inaugural edition, in 2008, of the lucrative league, besides refusing to play bilateral cricket that has been on a hold since 2012-13. Major cricketing nations like Australia, England, South African and New Zealand — some of them influenced by Indian cricket extravagance — also abandoned Pakistan for years and years on the pretext of security. While security was an issue in the aftermath of the 2009 attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, the situation has been pretty much under control for a quite a few years now.
But despite the dearth of international cricket, especially at home, Pakistan continues to produce great talent and remains in the reckoning for world titles. PSL has been a great help in the context. Team Pakistan’s performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup has whole cricketing world in awe. Their unbeaten run to the semi-final stage of the tournament has sent a strong message across that Pakistan cannot be ignored on trivial grounds. And the world has had to realise the fact too. Now New Zealand is ready to compensate for abandoning a Pakistan series two months back. England — which followed in the footsteps of New Zealand and cancelled a scheduled series against Pakistan — is willing to tour the country for the first time after 2005. Also lined up is an Australian tour of Pakistan for a full series coming up after nearly two and a half decades.
However, the best that has been earned — as a reward of a fine performance in the T20 World Cup — comes in the shape of the ICC announcement that Pakistan will be the host of the Men’s Champions Trophy in 2025. Kudos to the Men in Green!
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2021.
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