Test return Pakistan
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Mera Piya Ghar Aaya: Test cricket returns to Pakistan

Qasim Mujtaba Naqvi·
Test
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One of many personal anecdotes that relay the emotional significance of Test cricket’s long-awaited return to Pakistan…

It was October 5th 2007. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had just announced the inclusion of Inzamam-ul-Haq in the squad for the second Test against South Africa. With day five of the first Test underway at Karachi’s National Stadium, my father called to let me know that he was coming back early from work and we’d be going to the game after the lunch break. I was 8 years old and brimming with excitement at the thought of seeing my first Test match live.

Up until then, I had only seen Pakistan play cricket at National Stadium twice: once against India in the fifth ODI of a series we had already lost 3-1 (ended 4-1 courtesy of a Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership) in 2005; and a game against the West Indies, during which Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s hundred was usurped by a then career-best ODI score of 92 by Mohammad Hafeez. However, this was going to be my first-ever Test match.

We left for the ground knowing Pakistan needed 200-odd runs in two sessions with 5 wickets in the bag. By the time we got to the ground, we were down to 3 wickets remaining with 180 still to get. Tickets to enter were only Rs. 100 (yes, 100 rupees to see the likes of AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis in action) each. Not too long after we made it to our seats, Shoaib Malik pulled a Makhaya Ntini ball into the air. Andre Nel got under it and Pakistan lost the Test match by 160 runs.

For the longest time, I believed that catch was taken by AB de Villiers – but alas, I was wrong. Either way, we departed the stadium after our fairly short stay. I was disappointed to see Pakistan lose, but couldn’t wait to return to the ground to watch another Test, this time maybe earlier in a match. I never did.  The attack on the Sri Lanka team happened in 2009 and Pakistan hasn’t hosted a Test match since. Until now, that is.

On November 14th, the PCB and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced that Pakistan would host their two-match World Test Championship series in Rawalpindi and Karachi in December of this year. And frankly, I am overjoyed. Since watching South Africa cruise to victory against us 12 years ago, I’ve seen a number of live cricket games but not a singe limited-overs game could compare to the experience of watching a Test match in my own city. I’ve grown from an 8 year-old boy learning to love the game to a 20 year-old young adult who finds solace on the field. Even so, I haven’t been able to witness any international cricket in Pakistan during that time.

Be it due to other commitments or an inability to find tickets, I wasn’t able to attend the groundbreaking white-ball tours of Zimbabwe, West Indies, World XI, or Sri Lanka (twice). In fact, many like me have grown up in a Pakistan isolated from international sporting events. Hopefully, that’s all set to change. Not only do I plan on attending the Test match against Sri Lanka, I hope the event ushers in the return of cricket and other sports to Pakistan. Yes, the ticket won’t cost Rs. 100 now – but it’ll still be worth it. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is also expected to be held at home in its entirety and after this series, everyone will be praying it stays that way for years to come.

For far too long, Pakistan has been shunned from hosting international sports. Some very recent examples are of the Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and India being moved to a neutral venue and Pakistan losing their hosting rights to Bangladesh for the 2020 SAFF Cup. The absence of sport has cause a flood of lazy administrators into the system and they haven’t been hard-pressed to produce results. However, a return to prominence on the international stage could up the ante in terms of accountability for the governors of cricket and all other sports.

Therefore, as a lover of Pakistani sports, I hope children can now celebrate their heroes in the flesh. More international sporting events could make their way to the country as well, with our teams forced to hold so many activities away from home for the past decade. I have waited too long; Pakistan has waited too long. The return of cricket’s longest format will hopefully kickstart a new era for sports in the country: one of hope, promise, and most importantly, success. And long may that continue.