(Commentator and Senior Sports Analyst and NNA Correspondent) 

All eyes are set on the Pak Vs England home series which is historic one. Cricket is a passion with our people, and when it comes to Pakistan's team's good performance, the spirits are lifted and cricket-loving public, overwhelmed by jubilations, start celebrating the occasion in their own ways.

Right now, they are on cloud nine as they prepare to witness the cricket matches on their home grounds as England team has arrived in Pakistan in seventeen years which is a record time. They did not visit Pakistan due to security fears after the terrorists attacks on Sri Lankan team in  Lahore in 2009. It may be recalled here that the English cricketers last played on Pakistan home grounds in 2005. 

They were scheduled to visit the country last year but due to an abrupt ending of the ongoing tour by Kiwis of Pakistan due to situation in Afghanistan, also led them to postponement of that tour but now Thank God, they are in Pakistan as they have no safety concerns right now. The home crowds will have a chance to see action-packed cricket after decades of wait which is finally over. The series is all set to commence on 20 September in the country's financial hub Karachi, where the two teams will  meet each other in  four games and then they will flow to Lahore for the T20 matches.

The series matches are being given great importance as it will help prepare both the team for  this year's ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in October-November. Both the teams are in high spirits. For Pakistan, it is a great moment to see world teams visiting the country this year after lapse of decades. Earlier this year, the Aussies were in Pakistan after 24 years. It was the year's first tour to staging an international tour by foreign team in  a successful manner to show the world that our land is safe for sports activities.  By successful holding of the Aussies series and other tournament, we showed to the world that our country is safe for international sports and now we have achieved the objective behind the home series. 

The real victory in the Aussie Test series for us was to remove the security concerns of the world regarding our country. Just imagine, two years back no team was ready to visit Pakistan for security reasons after the Afghan turmoil which made the atmosphere tense in the region.

India was trumpeting negative propaganda against Pakistan , New Zealand team backed out of the tour and cancelled the series hour before a match in Karachi; England cricket team followed the suit and cancelled their scheduled tour of Pakistan in October. These were real set-backs for our country as for the moment  it felt like we have been pushed to the wall with no immediate solution in sight. Thank God, that perception is overcome and we not only persuaded the Kangaroos and now the English team to visit our country but also successfully organized the Aussie series and other tournaments, providing Presidential level security to them, which the Aussies captain and team players also lauded and enjoyed. It was none other than the Australia Test captain Pat Cummins who stated that he was impressed by the tight security in Pakistan on their arrival and even now they feel safe in the country.

.During and after the series, the visiting team's captain, officials and members expressed their confidence in the security steps intact for their tour, saying we are 'incredibly safe' in Pakistan. That English team is now in Pakistan after seventeen years is something to cheer about in these testing times for our sports in the post-pandemic and amid the flood situation. It is also to be mentioned here that Pakistan successfully staged its 7th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) series last year recently with a record-breaking number of visitors from both home and abroad who enjoyed quality cricket in Lahore where the Aussies have to play the remaining matches of their tour. One hopes and is looking forward to the upcoming matches of the series with the utmost eagerness, praying that everything goes well and without any untoward incident so that cricket may prosper in the country otherwise, our country will be reduced to the status of pariah once again as was the case after tragedy struck the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore in the past.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 16 2022

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