Pakistan will organize a first major cricket tournament in almost three decades from Wednesday in a movement that only greeted a milestone a few years after the country was forbidden because of the fears of safety. Organizing the Champions trophy in three cities in the next two and a half weeks will be a huge boost for the reputation of the South Asian nation if the authorities can do it smoothly and safely. “Convincing the world that Pakistan is a safe country and that it is able to deliver such a worldwide event from the position of the administration, has received serious hard work and convincing,” said former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja on AFP.
“The world eventually understood our position,” said Raja, under whose term of office the event was awarded in 2021.
The structure was not without problems after neighbors and arch rivals India refused to play in Pakistan about long -term political tensions.
A powerhouse of the sport on and next to the field, India will play their matches in Dubai instead, but the other seven countries will be located in Pakistan.
The country has increased safety, especially in guest cities of Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, even if attacks in large cities are increasingly rare.
Pakistan would have organized the Champions Trophy, the Premier ODI event after the World Cup, in 2008.
Instead, it was organized in South Africa a year later due to a safety crisis that proceeded from the war in neighboring Afghanistan after the attacks of 11 September of 11 September.
Pakistan became a no-go zone for international parties in 2009 after Islamist armed men attacked a bus with the Sri Lanka team in Lahore, who injured various players and killed eight police officers and citizens.
But since a radical military performance that started in 2014 and lasted a few years, security has improved enormously.
Test Cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 and Australia, England, Nieuw -Zeeland and South Africa toured the country later and helped Pakistan's bid to organize the tournament.
Those teams will all be in Pakistan for the Champions trophy.
'Terrorism took everything'
For the 77-year-old businessman Haji Abdul Razzak is a global event that returns to Pakistan as a different birthday.
The last time Pakistan had a large international cricket tournament was like co-hosts, with India and Sri Lanka, in 1996.
Razzak raised the Sri Lankan flag on March 17, 1996 in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore when the islanders defeated Australia to conquer the title.
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.
“It's fresh in my mind,” a tear -eyed razzag told AFP. “My country then flourished and Cricket was in everyone's thoughts.”
He added: “Terrorism has taken everything from us. I am overjoyed to see a worldwide event coming back to our country and I feel it will be my birthday.”
Although military is still a threat in Pakistan, the violence is almost completely limited to the remote border regions from north to south, far away from the stadiums.
With the capital Islamabad placed in Lockdown, Pakistan recently organized a top of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a worldwide meeting about the education of girls, who raised her profile on the international stage.
As a test case for his willingness, Pakistan organized a Tri series with New Zealand and South Africa last week and crowds flowed to the recently renovated stadiums in Lahore and Karachi.
Raja, a former captain of Pakistan who played in the 1987 World Cup organized by Pakistan and India, said that holding the Champions trophy has an enormous meaning that goes beyond the sport.
“This Champions trophy is a crucial step in the direction of normalizing status in the global cricket community,” he said.
“It is also about national pride and sending a strong message about resilience and determination.
“It is about youth involvement, cultural promotion and building a worldwide image.
“Now the responsibility is for us to deliver.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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