Fresh from a 3-0 whitewash of sturdy Afghans, top-ranked Pakistan thrashed minnows Nepal in the Asia Cup opener in Multan on Wednesday as they launched their quest for the title they had last won 11 years back. Skipper Babar Azam hit his 19th ODI century in his 102nd inning, breaking the record of South African Hashim Amla who had done it in 104 outings to the crease. But it was Iftikhar Ahmed’s 71-ball 109 that propelled Pakistan to a formidable 342 for 6 in 50 overs. The total proved too much for Nepalese, the newbies, who failed to resist Pakistan’s strong bowling attack for even half the quota of overs, losing the game by a big margin of 238 runs.
The high-spirited Team Pakistan is now up for the biggest challenge of the six-team contest as they take on archrival India tomorrow at Kandy in Sri Lanka where most of matches of the redesigned tournament will be played as BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan where the Asian competition was originally scheduled. Consequently, Pakistan is only playing host to four of a total of 13 matches. As ever, much more than just cricket will be at stake as Pakistan and India fight it out on September 2 — and possibly on two more occasions depending on the results.
It is, meanwhile, a moment to celebrate as Pakistan is hosting a multilateral contest — though under a hybrid model featuring Sri Lanka also — after a big gap of 15 years. It was in 2009 that a terrorist attack on a visiting Sri Lankan national team in Lahore led to Pakistan being rendered a no-go zone for international sporting events. However, with the security situation improving slowly and gradually and with the untiring efforts of the PCB, Pakistan’s status as international cricket venue has been revived. So much so that we are now hosting the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025. Does not that speak of a nation of sports lovers!
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2023.
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