The return of cricket

Excitement kicks in, as international cricket comes to town after a gap of six years

The return of cricket

Ahmed Nadeem, a Grade 6 student, is extremely excited, as he stands against a rack inside a dimly-lit sports goods shop in Anarkali. He has come here with his father to buy Pakistan cricket team’s kit and kept the staff on their toes since.

The young boy wants to wear the kit during the limited-over cricket match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan at Qaddafi Stadium Sunday (today). Having tried a few of them, he decides against buying a kit from the place, his dissatisfaction stemming from the fact that the shades and designs do not match the actual ones sported by the national team.

In this crowded shop, Nadeem is not the only young person driving the sales personnel to show him one product after another. There are children, youth and middle-aged men, all in the search of attractive cricketing attires.

The shop is also selling Pakistani flags, green caps and placards with "4" and "6" printed on them in bold. The small parking lot outside the shop is full and the customers are having difficulty entering the place.

The scenes at the shop are reflective of the overall mood that pervades the city, thanks to the ongoing cricket series.

Nadeem has not had the experience to watch an international match live -- that too on our home ground, as they say. But he has heard it’s a treat. He was barely five when the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in 2009, on its way from the hotel to Qaddafi Stadium. Since then there has been no international test-level cricket in the country.

With international cricket returning to Pakistan after a good six years, Nadeem says he has got the chance to see his dream come true. "Almost all my class fellows are trying to get their hands on match tickets but only a few of have been successful. I am one of them," he says, gushingly.

 The die-hard fans of the game, who have witnessed many an international cricket match live on home turf, are surprised by the level of public interest in this series. 

No wonder, security has been beefed up in the city and the traffic on the roads has to repeatedly come across heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces. Some of the commuters have even spotted helicopters flying right above the roads, leading to the matches’ venue and alerting the snipers perched on rooftops of high-rise buildings.

At first, it appears the city is preparing for a looming armed conflict and the trigger-happy cops are on the lookout for their targets.

The extraordinary security arrangement, meant to guard the visiting Zimbabwe team, has perturbed many. Muhammad Arshad, a procurement officer at a company dealing in fertilisers, is one such disgruntled commuter. He says he along with his family members got stuck on the Canal Rd when the law-enforcing authorities initiated a rehearsal without any prior announcement.

Arshad says nobody had any idea as to whatever caused the closure of all the main roads in the area. "When I asked the traffic wardens on the road, they said the police were conducting a mock exercise on how to evacuate the teams in case they come under a terrorist attack."

However, despite the inconvenience, Arshad is happy that Zimbabwe team is here. He has also bought an ODI ticket for himself but thinks the security measures are far more than those actually required. "In 2009, there was literally no security cordon at all and now there are 6,000 cops deployed in and around the Qaddafi Stadium alone. Both these situations are extreme and far from practical."

The die-hard fans of the game, who have witnessed many an international cricket match live on home turf, are surprised by the level of public interest in this series.

"It is interesting to note that most tickets printed for the matches were sold within hours of them being put on sale," says Tahir Mohyeuddin, a cricket enthusiast, on the wrong side of 50.

Mohyeuddin says the tickets were made available at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) booths and different outlets of a leading bakers’ chain but there was no bar on the number of tickets a person could buy. "From what I’ve heard, some people have purchased [tickets] in bulk and shall be selling them at a premium price."

People have also been seen running from one outlet to the other in their quest for tickets, he adds.

On the other hand, tickets have been available online and the leading sales portal daraz.pk was engaged by the PCB to sell tickets, especially to people in cities other than Lahore. The prospective buyers could create their accounts online, place orders, have the tickets delivered at their doorstep and pay cash on delivery.

There is a sizeable number of cricket lovers travelling from outside Lahore to watch the matches. Some of these people are staying at hotels while others with their relatives and friends.

As per data shared by Saman Javed, Co-head Communications and PR at daraz.pk, the portal sold a total of 3,645 tickets (till the filing of this report), out of which 2,120 were from Lahore, 434 from Rawalpindi/Islamabad, 369 from Karachi and the rest from other tier-two and tier-three cities.

There are many visitors whose friends or relatives have bought tickets for them beforehand. As all the matches are being played in Lahore, the fans of the game had no option but to travel to the city to enjoy the experience.

Then there are those who have their own reasons to look forward to the series. "I was interested in seeing the first T20 match in the stadium [held on Friday]. Why, because I wanted to see Umar Akmal face his first ball in an international match being played in his own country," says Ruhaan, a loyal fan of the player.

Though there are nine players in Pakistan’s 15-man squad who have never played an international match in their home country, Ruhaan says his prayers are with Akmal.

The social media as well as electronic channels are witness to the mass hysteria the game has generated, with people flaunting their tickets and/or passes like crazy.

To quote Mohyeuddin, "Lahoris have shown the world how much they love cricket, and that Lahore is still a great venue for international matches."

The return of cricket