ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The year 2017 proved to be a blessed for Pakistan Cricket, as Pakistan Cricket team made it their year by going on to host successful events in the Country and won some big tournaments that has also put them under the spotlight.
It started from the month of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 2 when all the talk was about staging the Final of the League in Lahore.
Everyone thought this would not be impossible since the security in the Country did not satisfy the foreigners which led to many international players that were playing with their team throughout the league disagree to travel with their team and take part in the Final as they considered it to be unsafe.
However some players like Darren Sammy, David Malan, Marlon Samuels were ready to arrive in Pakistan and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) invited other foreign players that were not a part of the league to play the final to make it even better and exciting. As everyone hoped, the PSL final was a huge success and all the foreign players were delighted with the security and all the arrangements.
A month after the PSL came the Pakistan tour to West Indies series which consisted of 4 T20I’s, 3 ODI’s and 3 Tests.
The visitors had dominated in the entire tour first defeating the hosts in the T20I’s comprehensively and then whitewashing them in One Day Internationals (ODIs). The last part of this tour was the most interesting one, it was the two Pakistani Legends Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq’s last test series in their glorious career.
It had to be a memorable last series, and what better way to finish your test career than beating the West Indians and clinching a Test series win for the very first time at their home soil. The young lads in the team gave a very well deserved send-off to the two greats of Pakistan Cricket and this Test series win will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable victory for Pakistan over the years.
A month later came a Tournament in which Pakistan had to step into as underdogs also as the most under estimated team, the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
The tournament in which an 8th ranked team faced all the odds and conquered the best of the best. A lot of Pakistani’s were asked whether their team stands a chance of winning the Champions Trophy, majority said no as the teams competing against Pakistan were way stronger.
The Green Team did justice to what they are called throughout the tournament, the most unpredictable team. They lost the first match vs Arch Rivals India badly which had the team confidence down, but then the Pakistani team started going towards the road of victory, defeating top teams like South Africa and Sri Lanka in the group stages and then going on to beat the best side in Champions Trophy in the Semi’s England.
Then arrived the all-important final against India everyone was excited, the players were ready to battle and give their level best, though many thought the Pakistani Young team will not be able to handle the pressure of this big final and will struggle to win but they did just the opposite by demolishing India and winning the match by a huge margin of 180 runs which allowed Pakistan to create history and lift the Champions Trophy for the first time ever.
In September 2017, World XI led by South Africa’s Faf du Plessis visited Pakistan for a three-match T20 series, bringing about the return of International Cricket to Pakistan following an eight-year starvation. Thus, all these events took place in 2017 hold a very a special place in every Pakistani’s heart as they are very memorable and special.
