ISLAMABAD: Cricket fans in Pakistan are buzzing ahead of the Champions Trophy and hosting the elite one-day international tournament will rekindle the country’s love affair with the sport, three former captains said.
The event, which features the sport’s top eight sides in the ODI format, begins on Wednesday with the hosts up against New Zealand in Karachi.
It will be the first major global tournament hosted by Pakistan in nearly 30 years and former batting great Inzamam Ul Haq told Reuters there was no escaping the excitement in the lead-up to the event.
“Right now everyone is talking about the Champions Trophy, in schools, houses, markets, offices, everywhere,” he added.
Pakistan spent nearly a decade in the wilderness after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players.
Top teams shunned Pakistan after the 2009 attack and it took the Pakistan Cricket Board years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.
“The events of 2009 feel like a bad dream,” Inzamam said. “We were punished for 10 years. Our cricket went backwards.”
The national team, captained for the bulk of those years by Misbah Ul Haq, hosted its ‘home’ games in the United Arab Emirates and remained relatively successful until fixtures trickled back onto Pakistani soil in 2018.
“For fans and young cricketers to see the stars playing live is a big deal,” said Misbah, Pakistan’s most successful test captain. “Not having that meant the whole cricket machinery was jammed.”
Former captain Aamer Sohail said the connection between fans and players was evident at Wednesday’s warm-up game against South Africa where Pakistan reeled in the visitors’ 352 to complete their highest successful ODI run chase.
“What was heartening in yesterday’s game is that people turned up and then the players turned up. It was kind of reciprocating, wasn’t it?” added Sohail.
The Champions Trophy was discontinued by the International Cricket Council after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in the final.
Should both teams reach the title decider when it returns to the calendar, Pakistan will not have the advantage of playing at home as India are playing all their matches in Dubai due to political tensions.
“A Pakistan-India match is not just a game of cricket, it’s a game of expectations, of emotions,” said Misbah.
Inzamam recalled a 2004 ODI against India in Karachi where he scored a thrilling hundred in a losing chase.
“I got a standing ovation but so did the Indian team for their performance,” he said. “Supporters from both sides would have wanted to see this match.”
Sohail will forever be remembered for one of the most famous on-field spats with Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals, the last major event played in Pakistan.
“It’s not just important for both the countries, I think this rivalry is important for international cricket,” he said.
Champions Trophy will rekindle Pakistan’s love of cricket, say former captains
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Champions Trophy will rekindle Pakistan’s love of cricket, say former captains
- Pakistan spent nearly a decade in wilderness after attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players
- Champions Trophy was discontinued by ICC after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in final
Pakistan warns citizens in Iran to keep travel documents ready amid intensifying protests
- Iranian universities reschedule exams, allow foreign students to leave the country for one month
- Donald Trump pledges support for Iranian protesters as ‘activists’ report more than 2,500 deaths
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat to Iran on Tuesday urged Pakistani nationals to keep their travel documents handy and advised students to plan ahead after Iranian universities rescheduled examinations to allow international students to leave, as weeks-long nationwide protests further intensified.
Iran has been gripped by protests since late December after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest worsening economic conditions, triggered by the Iranian rial plunging to record lows against the US dollar.
The demonstrations quickly spread beyond the capital, with unrest reported in most of the country’s 31 provinces and involving traders, students and other groups.
Authorities have responded with arrests, use of force and Internet and mobile network disruptions, which rights groups say are aimed at curbing coordination and limiting coverage of the protests.
At least 100 Pakistani citizens, including students and pilgrims, have returned home through the Pakistan-Iran border in the southwestern province of Balochistan, a Pakistani official told Arab News on Tuesday, though many are still believed to be in the neighboring state.
“I urge all Pakistani citizens in Iran to keep their travel documents, particularly immigration-related documents such as passport and ID cards, readily available with them,” Ambassador Mudassir Tipu said in a post on X. “Those who have expired documents, or their documents are not in their possession, they may kindly urgently approach us for timely and expeditious assistance.”
In a separate post, he said Iranian universities had rescheduled examinations and allowed international students to leave the country for one month, advising Pakistani students to make their plans accordingly.
On Jan. 1, Pakistan advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Iran, citing safety concerns linked to the protests. The Pakistani embassy in Tehran also set up a crisis management unit to provide round-the-clock assistance to citizens.
Iran eased some restrictions on Tuesday, allowing international phone calls via mobile networks for the first time in days, but maintained limits on Internet access and text messaging as the death toll from the protests rose to at least 2,571 people, according to the Associated Press that quoted “activists.”
In a message on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump urged Iranian protesters to continue their anti-government demonstrations, saying “help is on its way,” without providing details. Shortly afterward, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States and Israel of responsibility for the deaths of Iranian civilians.
Iranian state television said officials would hold funerals on Wednesday for “martyrs and security defenders” killed during the unrest, which has intensified over the past week.
