Zalmi ready for United as big-time cricket returns to Karachi

KARACHI: The stage is set for what will be the biggest cricket match in Karachi in almost a decade.

The HBL Pakistan Super League final to be played at the newly-renovated National Stadium might not be an international game but when it comes to magnitude it will be the match of the year for Pakistanis.

And the way defending champions Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United — the two finalists have played in the lead up to the title clash — Sunday’s finale is expected to be the perfect climax for the month-long T20 league.

The visiting teams and officials have been provided with presidential-level security with thousands of security personnel deployed to ensure smooth staging of the final. The final comes just a week before a highly-anticipated three-match Twenty20 International series against the West Indies to be played in Karachi from April 1-3.

“It’s a great occasion for Karachi,” Shahid Afridi, who lives in Karachi, told ‘The News’. “I’m sure that the cricketing-loving people of this city will have a great match on Sunday,” added the former Pakistan captain whose team Karachi Kings fell to Peshawar Zalmi in the playoff for the final.

The final is expected to be a full house as all the tickets that were put on sale were sold out within hours. There is still a big scramble for tickets despite concerns that the spectators will have to go through various security layers to get to the stadium on Sunday.

Agencies add: The final has great significance for Pakistan as it gradually welcomes back international cricket, which ground to a halt after a deadly attack on Sri Lanka’s Test team in Lahore in 2009 which killed eight people and injured seven visiting players.

As well as the final in Karachi, both eliminators were held in Lahore this week — a step forward from last year, when only the final was held on Pakistani soil.Next year, the Pakistan Cricket Board has said it hopes to hold half of the PSL on home turf. Currently, most of the games are played in UAE.

Despite the encouraging signs, some of the PSL’s top stars preferred not to play in Pakistan, including Quetta Gladiators batsman Kevin Pietersen who appeared to announce his retirement instead.Australia all-rounder Shane Watson also opted out for Quetta, who were knocked out by Peshawar.

Quetta head coach Moin Khan said players who promise to play in Pakistan but later back out should be barred from the PSL draft.“It’s disappointing that some foreign players refused to come after giving their consent initially,” he said.

“PCB will have to take notice and not include those players in draft as it will be big loss for the franchise.”England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan was another to skip Pakistan, while England’s Alex Hales and Sam Billings will both be missing for Islamabad United when they take on Peshawar on Sunday.

Pakistan has pulled out all the stops for the PSL, to the extent of using helicopters to dry the rain-sodden Lahore pitch for Wednesday’s semi-final.The last time a helicopter was seen hovering so close to Gaddafi Stadium was in 2009, when one was used to airlift the survivors of the Sri Lankan team attack to safety.

But foreign experts who examined the security arrangements said they were “as good as any” they have seen.Former West Indian captain and Pakistani crowd favourite Darren Sammy, who will skipper Peshawar for a second time after leading them to victory last year, lauded the country’s efforts.

“Pakistan is a place where I have a great connection and I feel proud that I am part of the efforts to revive international cricket in Pakistan,” he said.The cricket-mad country has since played nearly all its home matches in the United Arab Emirates, where earlier rounds of the PSL were also staged.

But authorities have been working hard to ease international cricket back to Pakistan, with the final of last year’s PSL in Lahore seen as a major turning point.That was followed by three T20s against a World XI last September and the emotional return of Sri Lanka for one T20 in October, all in Lahore, with unprecedented security arrangements in place.

The success of the Lahore events have long spurred calls for similar efforts in Karachi. Many Pakistani greats grew up playing cricket on the sweltering port city’s chaotic streets, often using an improvised form known as tapeball, using a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape.

The third edition of the PSL was launched last month with the addition of a sixth team, the Multan Sultans, more international stars, and hopeful fans eager to forget a spot-fixing scandal which tainted last year’s event.

After the first 31 matches were played in Dubai and Sharjah, the PSL moved to Lahore on Tuesday, when Peshawar beat Quetta in the first eliminator and then ousted the Karachi Kings in the second.The Lahore matches were played under heavy security, with police and paramilitary personnel guarding the teams from their hotel to the stadium and back.