Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: The best friend returns
This match was more than a cricket match, it was the return of Sri Lanka, and it was time to celebrate. Photo: AFP
By Sohaib Ahmed
The international cricket community is a small group of friends with teams constantly visiting each other. In this small community, Pakistan has played matches against Sri Lanka more times than any other nation, and if that is a benchmark to go by, then Sri Lanka is Pakistan s best friend.
So if your best friend comes to visit you, and something terrible happens which causes all of your other friends to stop coming over, you try to make things right. Pakistan has spent the past 9 years trying to make things right after the horrific events at the Liberty roundabout in 2009. The whole country grieved for the traumatised, injured and martyred victims on that day and a bit of sadness is always felt by every cricket fan when they recall that day.
But in the face of adversity, best friends stand by each other. Pakistan did it in the past. They stood by Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan civil war, and never cancelled a match or tour when others did. Preceding the 1996 World Cup, there was a bomb blast in Colombo, which caused many teams to proclaim they would not play in the country. Along with the Indian team, Pakistan stepped up and sent players for a match in the city to show it was safe for international cricket.
Last night, Pakistan s best friends returned the favour, and brave Sri Lankan cricketers returned to play a match, where 9 years ago - just meters away, their compatriots were hiding on the floor of a bus as bullets from automatic weapons whizzed by them.
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People cheer for Sri Lanka while watching the third and final T20 match at Gaddafi stadium. Photo: OINN
Zimbabwe and an International XI have toured Pakistan since that attack, but the return of Sri Lanka is what provided true closure from that dark chapter.
When a hard fought cricket match goes down to the last over, it is often said that cricket is the winner and that both teams should be proud of what happened on the field. In this case, cricket was the winner for what has happened off the field. This match was more than a cricket match, it was the return of Sri Lanka, and it was time to celebrate.
The atmosphere from the start was festive and the crowd cheered for both teams, making noise throughout the night. Fakhar Zaman began things in style by hitting a boundary off the very first ball off the match. Umar Amin was back in the T20 team after a 3-year absence on the back of some great performances in the domestic circuit. The opening pair put on 57 in 8 overs. Fakhar scored 31 from 27 balls, and when Umar Amin was dismissed for 45 off 37, the score was 91/2 in the 13th over. The average T20 score at the Gaddafi Stadium is generally around 180, and the run rate was hovering around 7.
In came Shoaib Malik. And he looked like he was out for revenge after a disappointing inning in the previous match. The 35-year-old spanked the Sri Lankans all over the park, and a casual on-looker might have thought that this was a match in the streets where the older brother of one of the kids had joined in. The Sri Lankans were helpless as Malik scored 51 off only 24 balls with 2 huge sixes and a strike rate of 212.50. Pakistan posted exactly 180 for just the loss of 3 wickets in their 20 overs.
Babar Azam hits a shot during the final T20 cricket match against Sri Lanka at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Photo: APP
The Sri Lankan team is close to an all-time low after the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, and their lack of patience, strategy and technique throughout this tour have been exposed. Once again the Sri Lankans lost early wickets, with the side quickly slipping to 21/3 in the 4th over and 96/5 in the 14th over. After such a bleak start, they were never able to recover and eventually fell well short of the target. Mohammad Amir, playing his first T20 match in a year, was the chief wrecker returning his career best figures with 4/21. And Pakistan won the match by 36 runs, sweeping the T20 series 3-0.
Pakistani cricket has suffered to the point where many seasoned players in the team have yet to play a Test match at home, but with this match, the page has finally turned, and a new chapter has begun. Cricketers like captain Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, all who have never played a Test match at home, can now hope to see Test cricket returning to Pakistan in the near future.
The result of the match at the Gaddafi Stadium really didn t matter, because after nine long and tumultuous years, Pakistan s best friend had returned for a match, and cricket was the winner.
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Pakistani and Sri Lankan cricketers and officials pose for a photograph prior to the third and final Twenty20 international match at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Photo: AFP
Sohaib is one of the founders of the popular cricket group Cornered Tigers, and he tweets @Sobob99
