LAHORE, Pakistan: Finally the national anthem of Pakistan was played at the jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday evening after a gap of six years as the International Cricket returned to insurgency-hit South Asian Country.
flah by teamafridi
It was in February/March 2009, when Pakistan witnessed the arrival of an International Cricket Team for the last time when the Sri Lankan team toured Pakistan for a bilateral cricket series. However, amid the tour an unfortunate terror attack on the visiting side in Lahore caused the isolation of Pakistan from the International Cricket.
Till last Tuesday, no cricket playing nation expressed willingness to tour Pakistan mentioning security concerns. But thanks to Zimbabwe Cricket which sent its team to Pakistan on May 19, 2015 for playing T20 internationals and three one-day internationals (ODIs) matches against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium between May 22 and May 31.
The two teams met the first encounter last night at the Stadium, which also houses the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters. In the Stadium, a record number of people including Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain and celebrities assured their presence not only to support their national team but also to pay tribute to Zimbabwe for their generous step of visiting Pakistan.
Since the country is already gripped by a way of insurgency, the authorities had arranged strict security arrangements inside and around the Stadium to ensure a peaceful holding of match.
In the first T20 of the two-match series, Pakistan led by Shahid Afridi beat Zimbabwe by five wickets while the right-hand opening batsman Mukhtar Ahmad was declared man of the match for his 83 runs.
While batting first Zimbabwe scored 172 runs for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. In response, Pakistan achieved the target of 173 runs for the loss five wickets in 19.3 overs.
