Highlander999
ICC President
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Location
- London
Oh Pakistan what has happened to you? The days of the greats thundering in and up-rooting stumps are long gone. Matches against India where the tension was so great, people couldn't look away from the action seem so long ago. Where has it all gone?
A team in disarray and a country at war would sum it up. Terrorism within Pakistan has brought the country to its knee's and left the cricket team in exile from being able to play in their own country. Nevertheless progress is beginning to be made. Has stability begun to return to Pakistani cricket? Shahid Afridi is now at the healm of the team and hopefully now the infighting within the Board will ease off. Maybe now, Pakistan cricket can focus on one thing. Winning matches and bringing back pride to a country which has had little to cheer about over the past few years.
In a gesture of goodwill which has surprised many in the cricketing world, the BCCI has agreed to play a 5 match ODI and 3 match Test series with their neighbours in what one BCCI spokesman called, "A gesture to our brothers that through cricket we can bring friendship to one another." Certainly this announcement has brought fans on both sides of the border to their feet in excitment for one of the biggest cricketing rivalries second only to The Ashes.
Shahid Afridi whilst visiting an orphanage in Karachi had this to say on the upcoming ODI and Test series:
"For a proud Pakistani like myself when hearing the announcement of this series, my first thought was one of pride that I would get to lead my country's team against our oldest rivals. We know that many of our people are suffering here, but hopefully how we act on the field will bring much pride to them, and of course we do plan on winning We have a very young squad now, so it is up to the senior players to lead by example and really contribute and show what we are capable of. Hopefully over the next year or so, we can show that Pakistani cricket is back, and it is here to stay!"
With the date's and fixtures all set up suprisingly quickly by the BCCI in what was thought to be a free period in the calendar for both India and Pakistan, all that is required now is the naming of the squads and plenty of fans to buy tickets to ensure that the atmosphere in those Indian grounds is electric. Here's hoping we are about to see the re-birth of Pakistani cricket, and like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, they can come back stronger and better then ever before...
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