Jawad Janjua
Australia’s tour of Pakistan is a landmark tour, which marks the return of cricket to Pakistan. It has been more than twenty- four years since the pitches of Pakistan have awaited the return of Aussies. The last time the Australian team played our favorite sport in Pakistan, many of the players on our current squad were not born (Shaheen Afridi, Abdullah Shafique, and Imam-ul-Haq) or were toddlers. The importance of this tour can be understood from the point that it was only a few months back that New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan was abandoned a few hours before the start of play of the first one-day match. This departure due to security concerns by the security advisor of the team left the people of Pakistan disappointed and angry. A few days after this announcement there was another announcement that left a sour taste in the mouth of fans across Pakistan. The team England also decided to cancel their tour of Pakistan. This back-to-back cancelation of tours by two of the major cricket-playing nations halted the return of cricket to Pakistan; it also made our team’s preparation for the world cup less effective than what they might have been if the tours had gone ahead.Now, this historic tour is serving the purpose of reviving cricket in a country that has been starved for cricket in Pakistan, but without a doubt, it can be said that the most important format of cricket that needs reviving, not only in Pakistan but across the globe is test cricket. It is evident from the images that are shown on the television screens that people did miss this format of cricket. A packed crowd for a test match in Pakistan shows the eagerness of the crowd, who has been patiently awaiting this return to cricket. This shows a green light for the board to move forward with its plan of reviving cricket in Pakistan. There is another side to this as well. The main reason many countries have been hesitant to tour Pakistan are notorious security concerns, thus proving the team with a fool-proof and presidential level of security is the only way these tours can happen. Doing that makes the life of the people slightly more difficult. The roads through which the team travels to-and-from the stadium have to be blocked and the traffic of these areas needs to be diverted, which causes traffic problems for the people traveling to educational institutes and causes them to be late. The route of the metro bus will also be restricted for the duration of these matches to provide the team with security. Not only this, the businesses near the Rawalpindi stadium on double road Food Street will be closed for the duration of the matches. The fans, who want to watch the match have to park their cars and motorcycles at Civil Aviation ground and Shaheen chowk near Rawal Park. Then they will have to take the shuttle service to the stadium. During this time, they will have to deal with the police, who are never mentioned as the most accommodating or caring. There is still no doubt that people will deal with all of these problems to make sure they ensure that cricket finally returns to Pakistan and the two generations of players and fans who was been deprived of home cricket can finally get their wish fulfilled and the future generations might never have to witness the drought in this spectacular game. This all can only be accomplished if more and more of the big cricket-playing nations tour Pakistan for a proper test and one-day series, and this tour of Australia serves as a crucial point in history as cricket is finally coming back to the people who consider more than just a sport.
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