In the last few years, Pakistan have been in top form, especially in white-ball cricket. They are ranked third in T20Is, fourth in ODIs and sixth in Test cricket according to the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. At the Asia Cup earlier this year, they were beaten in the final by Sri Lanka. In the re-run T20 World Cup in 2022, Pakistan emerged as runners-up after yet another heartbreaking defeat in the summit clash, this time against England.
Pakistan cricket went through a difficult phase after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009. The incident led to no international matches being held in the Asian country for several years as cricket teams were afraid to travel the country. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi shared the tough situation Pakistan cricket faced a few years ago. Afridi highlighted how administrators and former cricketers fought and faced all odds to resurrect cricket in Pakistan from a hopeless phase.
“Our ground turned into a wedding hall. We wanted to play on our grounds. It was a tough time for Pakistan cricket, we missed our spectators. The people who worked on it put in a lot of effort. The board, the government. They played an important role. When we they went to play in other leagues, district cricket, we were convincing the cricketers outside that with their help we will be able to bring cricket back to our country.cricket came back, a good message was sent from Pakistan that we are a sport loving nation and we want to watch and play cricket on our ground here,” Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV.
“That difficult period has passed. Teams have started touring Pakistan. Some have withdrawn (but) Australia has come, England has come. Those were the things our audience was missing,” he added. England and New Zealand are scheduled to visit Pakistan this year. England will play three Test matches, while New Zealand will play two Tests and three ODIs in Pakistan, starting on December 27.
