Good days are ahead for Pakistan as England team is in the country for their first Test series during their ongoing tour since 2005. The visiting team said they are feeling safe and upbeat ahead of this all-important series scheduled to commence from Thursday. They spent a busy day on Monday by practicing for the series for first time at Rawalpindi stadium.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place for the team's stay and their movement and schedules are kept secret with a view to providing them complete security from safety concerns. The visiting team and the local cricket fans are extremely happy and ecited o the arrival of English team which are back here after as many as 17 years as a Test outfit. It may be recalled here that the visiting team was Pakistan last year but pulled out a week after New Zealand abandoned their limited-over series on security grounds minutes before the first match. The English team confidence in the security apparatus of the country, who are guiding and providing high level security to them, is a good omen and a good augury for cricket in this country, which suffered a lot due to the abandoning of international tours in Pakistan in recent years. Earlier this year, the Aussies visited Pakistan after over two decades and they played their first Test of the series in Rawalpindi which was something to cheer about in those testing times for our sports in the post-pandemic scenario. Meanwhile, it is crystal clear that India will once again come into action to make a bid to unleash its propaganda campaign against Pakistan to create fear and apprehensions among the visiting teams' members as it did last year in September when News Zealand suddenly withdrew from its Pakistan's hours before the first match in Rawalpindi due to threatening emails being sent to the latter from individuals having Indian connections.  Not only the Kiwis had left the country after team players received threatening emails which are claimed to be from Indian sources but also England followed the suit and did not allow its cricketers to visit Pakistan for a planned visit. India's smear campaign did not end there and threats were also sent to Australian cricketer Ashton Agar, prior to the start of the Pakistan tour, warning him not to visit Pakistan.  The pattern of the threat issued to Aussie players was similar to the earlier fake threats that were issued to Kiwis last year and later it was confirmed after an investigation that they were  originated from accounts being used by Indians The threat could not deter the determination of the kangaroos who   played the entire series. Meanwhile, English Test captain Stokes has said that he was impressed by the tight security in Pakistan on their arrival and even now they feel safe in the country. It may be mentioned here that our security apparatus has extended full support to the Pakistan Cricket Board by providing high level security for the visiting English Test team since they arrived here. The English cricket team is scheduled to have an extensive schedule consisting of three Test matches. It may be mentioned here that Pakistan recently organized a successful series of international sports events, which shows that there is no threat to cricket in the country and that our country is safe for touring teams.  The ongoing bilateral series is of great significance. How Pakistan plays in this series is of great importance for the Green Shirts as England's is a mighty team. It is reported that the tracks prepared for the Test series are mostly spinners-friendly wickets and Pakistan bowlers should fully exploit the situation to provide quality cricket to the home crowd, who will see their favorite players in action in Pakistan after long years. On the contrary, the English team too is rich in talent and they should not be taken easily by our batsmen as they have world-class bowlers.

England has many match-winners in its fold. So is the case with the Pakistan team but the absence of top bowler Shaheen Afriri in this series is a great loss for our team.   Against this backdrop, the series is viewed to be a promising one, producing quality cricket. One hopes and is looking forward to the Test 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. Meanwhile, England Coach McCullum, has said that  the Green Shirts are a  strong team at home. He termed it a good combination of  experience and young players in both  batting and bowling departments and hoped it will be highly competitive cricket in Pakistan in the wake of talented players making both sides. And last but not the least, the England captain Ben Stokes has announced that he will donate his Test matches fees during the Pakistan tour for the cause of the victims of biblical floods which have wreaked havoc in the country. This is really good will and humanity gesture by the visiting team captain and Pakistan salutes his human side.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 30 2022

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