{"id":65859,"date":"2025-02-18T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T11:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=65859"},"modified":"2025-02-18T16:45:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T11:45:56","slug":"more-than-cricket-as-pakistan-hosts-first-major-tournament-in-29-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/sports\/more-than-cricket-as-pakistan-hosts-first-major-tournament-in-29-years\/","title":{"rendered":"More than cricket as Pakistan hosts first major tournament in 29 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pakistan will host its first major cricket tournament<\/a>\u00a0in almost three decades from Wednesday in a move hailed as a landmark just a few years after the country was off-limits because of security fears.<\/p>\n

Staging\u00a0the Champions Trophy in three cities over the next two-and-a-half weeks will be a huge boost to the nation\u2019s reputation if authorities can pull it off smoothly and safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cConvincing the world that Pakistan is a safe country and that it is capable of delivering such a global event from an administration point of view took serious hard work and convincing,\u201d former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world eventually understood our viewpoint,\u201d said Raja, under whose tenure the event was awarded in 2021.<\/p>\n

The build-up has not been without problems after neighbours and arch-rivals India refused to play in Pakistan over long-standing political tensions.<\/p>\n

A powerhouse of the sport on and off the pitch, India will\u00a0instead\u00a0play their matches in Dubai, but the other seven countries will be based in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Header Image: A billboard in Lahore, depicting captains of different teams ahead of the Champions Trophy, on February 15, 2025. \u2014 AFP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/figure>\n

The country has stepped up security, especially in host cities Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, even if attacks in major cities are increasingly rare.<\/p>\n

Pakistan had been due to host the Champions Trophy, the premier ODI event after the World Cup, in 2008. It was instead staged in South Africa a year later because of a security crisis that spilled over from the war in neighbouring Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.<\/p>\n

Pakistan became a no-go zone for international sides in 2009 after gunmen attacked a bus carrying Sri Lanka\u2019s team in Lahore, wounding several players and killing eight policemen and civilians.<\/p>\n

But since a sweeping military crackdown that started in 2014 and lasted several years, security has vastly improved.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pakistan\u2019s national flag flutters at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium ahead of the ICC Men\u2019s Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket matches in Rawalpindi on February 17. \u2014 AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/figure>\n

Test cricket\u00a0returned to Pakistan in 2019 and Australia, England, New Zealand, and South Africa later toured the country, helping Pakistan\u2019s bid to host the tournament.<\/p>\n

Those teams will all be in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Terrorism took everything\u2019<\/h2>\n

For 77-year-old businessman Haji Abdul Razzak, a global event coming back to Pakistan is like another birthday. The last time Pakistan held a major international cricket tournament was as co-hosts, with India and Sri Lanka, in 1996.<\/p>\n

Razzak raised the Sri Lankan flag on March 17, 1996, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore when the\u00a0islanders defeated Australia to clinch the title.<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine years later the cricket fanatic will attend the opening match of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Wednesday between holders Pakistan and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fresh in my mind,\u201d a teary-eyed Razzak told\u00a0AFP<\/em>. \u201cMy country was thriving back then and cricket was on everyone\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cTerrorism took everything away from us. I am overjoyed to see a global event coming back to our country and I am feeling like it will be my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although militancy is still a threat in Pakistan, the violence is nearly entirely limited to the remote border regions from north to south, far away from the stadiums.<\/p>\n

With the capital Islamabad placed in lockdown, Pakistan recently hosted a summit of the\u00a0Shanghai Cooperation Organisation\u00a0and a global meeting on girls\u2019 education, raising its profile on the international stage.<\/p>\n

As a test case for its readiness, Pakistan last week staged a\u00a0tri-series\u00a0with New Zealand and South Africa and crowds flocked to the recently renovated stadiums in Lahore and Karachi.<\/p>\n

Raja, a former Pakistan captain who played in the 1987 World Cup\u00a0hosted by Pakistan and India, said holding the Champions Trophy has an enormous significance that goes beyond sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Champions Trophy is a crucial step toward normalising its standing in the global cricket community,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s also about national pride and sending a strong message about resilience and determination.<\/p>\n

“It is about youth engagement, cultural promotion, and building a global image. Now the onus is on us to deliver.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan will host its first major cricket tournament\u00a0in almost three decades from Wednesday in a move hailed as a landmark just a few years after the country was off-limits because of security fears. Staging\u00a0the Champions Trophy in three cities over the next two-and-a-half weeks will be a huge boost to the nation\u2019s reputation if authorities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":65860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[24061,138],"class_list":["post-65859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-icc-champions-trophy","tag-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65864,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65859\/revisions\/65864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}