Rival players hope to put cricket in spotlight

LAHORE: Bemused players said they hoped to take the focus off security and put it back on cricket after authorities mounted an unprecedented operation to guard Pakistan’s first home international in six years.
Thousands of police and paramilitaries have been deployed and helicopters will be buzzing over Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, which has been turned into a fortress for Friday’s T20 game against lowly Zimbabwe.
The fixture is Pakistan’s first on home soil since 2009, when militants launched a gun attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore, killing eight police and civilians and leaving seven players wounded.
Roads around the stadium will be closed and shops and restaurants have been shuttered for the duration of the series, consisting of two T20s and three ODIs, all in Lahore.
Jammers are in use to cut out radio signals, hampering wifi at the stadium, and fans will have to go through metal detectors at three security checkpoints, raising the prospect of hours of queuing.
Zimbabwe have been under tight wraps since their arrival early on Tuesday, when they were whisked from the airport to their hotel watched by thousands of security personnel.
They are far from the usual arrangements for a cricket match, and Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said it was a new experience for him and his team.
“Yes, it’s obviously something new for us,” said Chigumbura. “But we know why it is like this and players are not worried because Pakistan have done this for us, to be secure and safe.
“For us the main thing is to play good cricket and I don’t think it will affect us.”
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hoped the first ball on Friday will refocus attention on cricket as he attempts to lift his team after a poor World Cup and series in Bangladesh.
“These (security) arrangements are necessary,” said Afridi. “I am sure with the first ball on Friday all attention will be

on cricket and fans will enjoy the game without any bother and I hope they come in big number.”
Despite the tight security and the late confirmation of the series, following a massacre in an attack on a bus in Karachi, organisers say the 27,000-capacity venue is a sell-out for Friday’s game.
Local umpires including Ahsan Raza, who was wounded in the 2009 attack, will take charge of the series after the International Cricket Council refused to send its officials.
Zimbabwe have not won any of their five Twenty20 Internationals against Pakistan, but Chigumbura promised his team will do its best despite the unusual circumstances.
“I think the good thing about cricket is the team which plays well on the day wins. Come the first match and we will just go out and play our best,” said Chigumbura.
This will be the first time for many Pakistan players that they will be playing an international game on home soil.
Umar Akmal is one of them. The Lahore batsman said he is excited to play for Pakistan in front of his home crowd for the first time in his career, and is overjoyed that international cricket is returning to his country with the Zimbabwe series. Akmal made his international debut in August 2009, but no Full Member nation has toured Pakistan since the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lanka team bus in March 2009. Zimbabwe will play two T20Is and three ODIs in Lahore beginning on May 22.
“It will be an amazing feeling, it would mean so much to me. Cricketers around the world take playing at home in front of their own crowds for granted,” Akmal told PakPassion. “But unfortunately many of us Pakistani cricketers have never been able to play in our own conditions which is really tough. I know the people of Pakistan are really looking forward to the return of international cricket to Pakistan and so are the players. I can’t wait to hopefully walk out in front of the Lahore crowd if I am selected. I thank the Zimbabwe team for embarking on this tour and hope it’s the start of international cricket returning permanently to Pakistan.”